This Child (Wasn't Meant To Be 2)
by Carrie'sFisher
Summary: Sequel to my story, "Wasn't Meant To Be." (Reposted from my old account "EvilCharmer1547" in 2014) P.S. This was only the second story I ever wrote back when I was 16.
1. Author's Note

A/N: This is the sequel to "Wasn't Meant To Be," thank you to all you beautiful followers! This story may have a few surprises for you and whether you approve of them or not, they will happen. Haha! But I promise that Regina will get her true love! :D


	2. Six And A Half Months Later

A/N: This will follow my first EvilCharming story, "Wasn't Meant To Be." -

*About 6 1/2 Months Later*

Regina sat in her living room by a warm fire. The night was cold and she stood up to look out the window at the falling snow. As she sipped some warm apple cider, she sighed and put her hand on her bulging stomach as she looked down at it.

'Snow.' She thought. David was now with his real true love, she believed. 'I know that this is what I deserved. I did not live a life of love or forgiveness. So I don't deserve either.'

She looked out as the wind blew harder and the snow fell. The blizzard was getting worse. She was thankful that she had nowhere to go tonight for she knew that driving in this weather would truly be impossible.

She shook her head and walked back over to the fireplace. She looked at the pictures on the mantle of Henry and her when he was just a toddler. Smiling, a tear fell down her cheek as she remembered how much she missed her son and how long it had been since she saw him last.

It had been about 4 months since she saw him, and since she even left the house. There would be the occasional trips to the store, post office, or the bank and of course her trips to the hospital for her ultrasounds. The baby was due in the next two weeks or so and she was so excited to meet Olivia. She really wished that David could at least meet the baby, even just one look at her with a small smile would be enough for Regina to raise this baby alone.

It wouldn't be hard at all. She did it with Henry. 'Yeah. Look how great that turned out, dearie.' She heard Mr. Gold saying in her mind. She didn't listen to him. This time it would be different, and it would be her own child. With no biological parents to come ruin her life and steal her only love away from her.

Yes, she did still love David. The main reason for never leaving the house. She would see David, in such a small town like Storybrooke, and she would be caught staring at him with his wife, daughter, and her own son. She'd shake it off, leave, and cry herself to sleep that night.

She also refused to be seen in public after what happened when she resigned as mayor. How humiliated she felt. The town had decided they wouldn't have to vote for a new mayor after her and they would live under the control of "King David and Queen Mary Margaret" as co-mayors. How ridiculous she thought that was, but she accepted it. She was weak now. Hadn't used magic since that day. She found herself very emotional lately, but she blamed it on pregnancy hormones.

The third reason she wouldn't leave the house was due to the father of her child. It wasn't about David. It was about everyone else. Whenever she'd stop at the store, she'd hear whispering around her. One day she heard two women saying how impossible it was that Graham was Olivia's father due to the period of time that went by, but she stuck with it. 'What did it matter to them, anyway?' She asked herself.

She wiped away her tear and walked to the kitchen, setting her empty cider glass in the sink. She jumped when she heard a pounding on her door. 'Who on Earth could that be?' She walked to the front door and hesitated before opening it.

"David?"

"May I come in?"

"Ummm..."

"Please? It's important."

"Well, it must be, since you drove all the way from the other side of town in this God awful weather."

She stepped aside and let him in before closing the door. She turned and watched him look around the foyer as if he was trying to remember something.

"What's this about?" She finally asked.

"I just-" He began to speak, but he changed his mind and he put his hand on her stomach.

"David, what are you do-?"

He kissed her and she quickly pushed him away.

"David!"

"Regina, I remember."

"You-" She took a short, but deep breath. "What?"

"I remember."

"How di-?"

"I don't know. I was just sitting at home watching Emma, Henry, and Mary Margaret play and it just clicked."

"That's not possible! The spell-"

"It wore off and I know everything. I-You saved everyone."

"It was nothing."

"It was selfless, and you truly redeemed yourself in that single act. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm very upset with you."

"I'm sorry?"

"I told you NOT to cast that spell. But you did it anyway. And you've had to deal with this whole pregnancy by yourself. I don't know if I can forgive you for that. But I DO know, that I love you." He paused for a moment.

"David-"

"I love you and I will not allow you to raise our daughter by yourself-"

"David-"

"No. Let me finish. I will raise her with you and you will get your happy endin-"

"David!"

"What?!"

"I think my water just broke."


	3. First Name

"We have to get to the hospital." David said, trying to sound as calm as possible.

"David, there's no way we can get there in this weath-" She was cut off by a painful contraction and she screamed.

"What do you want me to do?" David asked, a little upset about snow interfering.

"I don't know. Think of something!"

She tried to remember her Lamaze breathing, but it was more painful than she was expecting.

"Umm...I thought you weren't due for another week?"

"David!" She screamed a little more aggressively than she had intended.

"Right! Uhhhh...Ummmmm..." He was now pacing, trying to figure something out. "Dr. Whale?"

"You can try, but...I don't know if he'll be able to make it."

"Well, we'll just have to try and see what we can do."

Her contractions were irregular at first, but she remembered Dr. Whale saying that it was normal at the beginning of labor. David brought her over to lie down on a blanket in front of the fire, because standing and walking usually makes contractions stronger. Unfortunately, lying down does not make contractions go away, but it would make them a little less painful for her.

David called Dr. Whale and he said he'd try his best to make it in the storm.

He sat next to her, holding her hand as her contractions became regular, about ten to fifteen minutes apart starting in her back and moving to her lower abdomen.

Every contraction that came, she squeezed David's forearm tighter and he almost screamed, too. He didn't realize how strong she was. But being in labor definitely contributed.

"I should go get-"

"No. Please don't go."

"I'll be right back. I'm just going to get you some more pillows and a washcloth."

He kissed her on the forehead and left. After giving her the pillows, he went to the kitchen to get a bowl of water and washcloth and he returned to her.

Her contractions were getting closer. They were seven minutes apart and they started to get worried that Dr. Whale wouldn't make it on time.

David put the wet washcloth to her forehead as she was sweating.

"I'm sorry we couldn't make it to the hospital." David said.

"No, don't apologize, David. It's not your-" Another contraction came and she fought back a scream as she said 'fault' through her grinding teeth.

"Our relationship took a turn after I lost Leopold's baby."

"I remember. Let's not talk about that right now-"

"No, you should hear this. You told me that day, that I would be able to carry a baby with the right man to be a father..."

"I did."

"You were right. I got you."

A tear fell down his cheek and Regina fought back another scream as they heard a knocking at the door.

"That's probably Dr. Whale. I'll get it." He pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and he stood up as he quickly went to the front door.

"Dr. Whale. She's right in there."

Dr. Whale rushed to the side of the fireplace with his medical bag. David followed and they both knelt down on opposite sides of her.

"How far apart are they?" Dr. Whale asked.

"About five minutes?" David answered for her, since she seemed to be having another one at the moment.

"It's early, Dr. Whale." Regina said, sounding worried.

"It happens all the time. Have you been staying free of stress like I told you?"

"Yes...Well... until-"

She shot a quick look at David and he looked up guiltily at Dr. Whale, who gave him a disappointed and utterly annoyed look.

"What? I'm-I-"

Dr. Whale rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Regina.

"It's gonna be okay, Regina. I promise."

David cocked his head to the side slightly and furrowed his brow when he noticed the way Dr. Whale weakly smiled at her. Even the way she smiled back at him. Why was Whale all of a sudden so concerned with the Evil Queen's well-being?

"Victor, I-"

"Sssshhhh...It's alright, Regina."

"Victor?" David was wondering how they got in a first name basis.

"They're getting closer together." Whale said, referring back to Regina's contractions, ignoring David's curiosity.

About an hour went by before it was time to push and Regina held David's hand as he put the wash cloth to her head for the last time.

"It's time to push, Reggi." Victor said.

"I can't." She sobbed.

Victor moved to her side again and he moved in close to her, their faces inches apart.

"Listen, Regina. You've endured so much in your life. Don't quit doing so right now. You can do this." He whispered.

She nodded slowly as she closed her eyes and Victor moved back to his original position, ready for the baby.

Regina noticed the way that David looked at Victor as if her were jealous. As if he knew something was up. He looked down at her and he saw the look in her eyes. It was almost a look of apology. As if she was afraid of hurting him. She didn't know what to do anymore.

"Come on, Regina. Push!" Victor said and she pushed.

"One more push. You're doing great, Hon."

"You can do it, Regina." David said, trying to pretend he didn't hear Victor calling her 'Hon.'

She gave one last push and they heard the cries of their baby girl. Victor removed the clamps from his disposable packaging and began to cut the umbilical cord when he looked at David and the back to Regina. He shook his head.

"I'm sorry. You should probably be the one to-Uh-" Victor handed the scissors to David, as he looked down, avoiding looking David in the eye.

"Thanks." David said awkwardly as he took the scissors.

He cut the umbilical cord and gave he scissors back to Victor.

"Hold on one second." Victor said with a large grin on his face as he looked at the baby girl.

He cleaned the baby and checked for any birth defects. He turned back around and handed the baby to Regina.

"She's perfectly healthy...You did it, Regina. You were wonderful." Victor's smile faded when Regina turned and smiled at David.

"You did it." David said as he held onto the tiny hand with his finger.

"WE did it." Regina answered.

David kissed her on the forehead and Victor looked away.

"I'll-Uh-I should be going." Victor said sadly as he stood.

"Victor. Wait, I-" Regina's smile faded.

"It's okay, Regina. I'll come and check on you in the morning."

"You shouldn't leave in this weath-"

"I agree. It's terrible out there." David said.

"I'll be alright."

"But-" Regina began.

"Please...Don't worry. I'll be fine."

Regina gave him a weak smile and she lightly nodded as he smiled at the infant and left. Regina kept her daze on the front door minutes after it had closed as David kissed the baby. She felt a wave of guilt, but she was too tired and exhausted to fight the deep sleep that she fell under the second David took the baby from her.


	4. Melancholy

Regina slowly opened her eyes to the fireplace. The coals were black and charred. She realized it was morning by the sun shining through her windows. She also realized that she was covered with blankets that weren't there when she fell asleep.

"Good morning."

She turned over and saw David standing and leaning against the door frame, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Morning. Did you get any sleep last night?" Regina said.

"Yes, I did actually. Ariana slept very good last night, but I'm sure she needs to be fed."

"Olivia." Regina said.

"What?"

"Her name is Olivia."

David smiled and he slowly walked over to kneel next to her.

"How are you feeling?"

"In pain. And still pretty exhausted." Regina answered. "Where is she?"

"Over here." He stood up and walked around the other side of the sofa to the bassinet behind it and looked at the sleeping baby.

He didn't want to wake her, but he thought it was best for Regina not to walk yet, so he gently and quietly picked her up and brought her over to her mother. The second she was in Regina's arms, a smile, the biggest David had ever seen, was plastered onto Regina's face. To their surprise, Olivia never woke up. She would sometimes move around just a little and slightly open her eyes, but she never budged.

"She looks just like you, David." Regina smiled.

"No. she looks like you."

Regina looked back at Olivia.

"You think?"

"I know." He said, never taking his eyes off of Regina. He gave her a pained look.

She looked up at him and noticed.

"What is it?"

"I'm sorry Regina. I never wanted you to be alone."

"Oh, David. Don't apologize. I did alright on my own. Remember…I had to raise henry alone for ten years."

"That's different than having to deal with a pregnancy."

"It was only six months, David. I was fine."

"Fine? What about when you almost-?"

He was cut off by a knock on the door.

"That's probably Dr. Whale." Regina said, ignoring their conversation.

David let out a sigh. "I'll be right back." He kissed her on the cheek before standing and getting the door.

"Please. Go right in." David said, an annoyed tone in his voice.

Victor walked into the living room and he stopped when he saw how happy Regina looked. He smiled. David was standing behind him.

"I'm going to Granny's to get you some food, Regina." David said and he left hesitantly, getting one last look at victor before closing the door behind himself.

For a moment, victor didn't know how to move. They both listened to the door close and he finally walked over and sat next to Regina with his doctor's kit.

"How are you feeling?" victor asked, a pained tone in his voice, as he took out a stethoscope and a sphygmomanometer to check her blood pressure.

He put the blood pressure cuff around her arm and repeatedly squeezed the end until her arm felt numb. He put the stethoscope to her arm and listened.

"I'm still a little exhausted and in pain, but I don't feel too bad."

"Any dizziness or trouble breathing?" he asked as he looked into her eyes with an ophthalmoscope.

"No. Not at all." She smiled.

He put away his tools and gave her another sad look.

"What's wrong?" Regina asked, concerned at the look on his face. She thought maybe she wasn't so good after all.

"Tomorrow, I want you to bring the baby to the hospital."

"Why? Is something wrong with-?"

"No. No." he immediately felt bad about the misunderstanding. "You're both perfectly healthy. There are just a few more tests I have to do and the hospital has more accurate equipment."

Regina let out a sigh of relief and she relaxed a little more. Then she remembered why she felt so worried in the first place.

"Well, why do you look so melancholy?" she asked.

He didn't answer, but she knew. There was a moment of silence.

"Would you like to hold her?" Regina asked with a weak smile. She began to hand him Olivia.

"I don't think that'd be such a good idea." He shook his head and backed away from the baby.

Regina, worried and confused, pulled Olivia back to her original position and looked up at him as her smile faded and tears formed in her eyes.

"I should be getting back." Victor said as he stood, grabbing his box.

She nodded, fighting back her tears.

"She really is beautiful, Reggi. Just like her mother." He turned to leave.

"Victor?" She asked as he held the door open, ready to exit.

"Yes?" He refused to look at her.

"Do you want to know her name?"

"No." He left.

Regina watched him leave. As soon as the door closed, Olivia began to cry and Regina tried her best to comfort her as she fought back her own tears.


	5. Choices

*4 Months Ago*

Regina walked into Granny's Diner, hoping she wouldn't see the Charmings there. She was now four months pregnant and she hated seeing them after she'd erased their memories of everything.

She let out a sigh of relief when she opened the door and saw that the only customers present were herself and a young girl whom she had never seen before. The girl was sitting at the counter, a few stools away from Regina's regular seat.

"Hello, Ruby. A tea please." She was hoping for something stronger, but no caffeine allowed in pregnancy, unless she wanted the baby to be dancing around and kicking her insides all day.

"Sure." Ruby said. She didn't sound very sincere, but Regina ignored it. She knew that people still didn't trust her, but she would prove them wrong.

Regina rested her elbow on the counter and put her head to her hand. She jumped at the voice of the girl next to her.

"You seem to be having a rough day." The girl said, looking straight ahead.

Regina put her head up and looked at her.

"I-" She had no idea how to respond.

"A rough decade maybe." The girl said before sipping some orange juice.

"Me too. I've been spending the last few years searching for my mother. Well…actually, I can't really say how long I've been searching, because you cast the curse, but…I've never had much luck anyway. Perhaps it just wasn't meant to be. But I can accept that. And I guess it was because of the fact that you cast that curse, but….I won't sit here and tell you how much you ruined my life or any chance at me finding her….I'd actually like to thank you for casting that curse. If it wasn't for your curse, a lot of people in this town, you for example, would've never become the people that they are today. Including myself. Yes, others would sit here blaming you, but all I can say is, that's not what life's about. It's about making choices. You can sit here blaming others for your misfortune, when truly, it's up to you how your life turns out. I mean….it's the way you react to certain situations and what you make of yourself. Life is a test. A test on you and your actions. A test of give and take. A test of your own success and a test of just living, no matter what others do or say. "

The girl finished her glass of orange juice and left a tip by her plate. She stood up, grabbed her purse, and put it on her shoulder, smiling at Regina.

"No one should live worrying about the actions of others. You are the author of your own life story." She began to walk passed Regina and she stopped next to her stool. "But for some reason, I feel like you already knew that."

The girl left and Regina just sat, thinking about what she had said. How could a girl of such a young age, speak so wisely, so experienced?

Ruby set down Regina's tea in front of her and she sipped it, still thinking about that girl. Where did she come from? Regina had truly never seen her before, and part of her wanted to chase after her. But she just sat and thought.

"Can I get you anything else?" Ruby asked.

"No, I'm fine, thank you." She stared off into space, pensive about that teenager. Regina knew that she had to be a teenager. Or at least in her early twenties.

Ruby was shocked. She had never heard Regina say 'thank you' before. She turned and went back to the kitchen, smiling.

Regina snapped out of her thoughts when she heard the on the door of the diner ring when it opened again. She turned her head to see the Charmings standing at the door, also surprised to see her.

"Hello, Regina." Mary Margaret said.

"Hello." Regina said in a monotone. "Henry, how are you?"

"I'm fine." Henry answered, as if he wasn't happy at all to see her. She frowned.

The four of them found a table to sit at and Regina turned around again to take another sip of her tea. Emma walked up to the counter to give Ruby the order. She turned to Regina when Ruby had gone.

"How's the life of freedom?" Emma asked, referring to her not being mayor anymore.

"It's alright." Regina said, but Emma could tell she was lying. "How's life with my son?" Regina said, nastier than she intended.

"Look, Regina. We-"

"I don't need to hear your pity." She snapped.

"I know you don't. I just- Look, we didn't want any of this to happen either."

"Sure you didn't! You just took my son like you said you would."

"We didn't take him, Regina. He chose to come with us, just like you chose to let magic and evil run your life...Life isa about making choices, Regina."

'That's what she said.' Regina thought of the young girl.

"And I'm sorry if you chose wrong."

Emma took the plates back to the table and Regina felt a pain in her stomach...something wasn't right.


	6. Ashamed

*Present Day*

David sat in the waiting room of the maternity ward at the hospital while Regina and Olivia were checked for any problems after the birth.

"I'm sorry, but we can't tell you that unless you're family!" David heard a nurse yell at someone down the hallway.

"Just tell me where Regina's room is! Is it really that big of a deal?!"

"Yes! Because you're not-!

"I know, I know….I'm not family….SO WHAT?!"

"Hey, hey. What's going on here?"

The two that were arguing turned abruptly, having not noticed David's approach.

"This…..person-" The nurse put an emphasis on the word 'person' and gestured to the third one standing there. "…..doesn't understand hospital regulations and won't stop nagging me about where a certain patient's room is."

The nurse ignored the glare she was getting.

"I can take it from here, Nurse. Thank you."

"Sir, I-"

"It's okay. I've got it." David reassured her and he put his arm around the other, leading them toward the bench he had been sitting at, while the nurse was keeping an eye on them.

David sat down, gesturing to the seat next to him. The girl took the seat and tried avoiding eye contact.

"Why did you want to know where Regina's room is? Do you know her?" David asked.

"Yes. And she called me to come see her. I was supposed to be with her when Olivia was born."

David was now confused. She knew about Olivia?

"Ho-How do you know Regina?" David finally managed to ask.

"We're friends. I'm also going to be Olivia's babysitter."

David just stared at the girl and slightly nodded, still confused at the situation.

"Who are you?" the girl finally asked, remembering her own curiosity.

"I'm David. I-"

"YOU'RE David?" The girl asked.

"Y-Yes?" David said, even more confused.

The girl smiled.

"I-"She began to speak, but Dr. Whale returned from Regina's room and they both stood.

"They're both doing just fine." Victor smiled.

"When can we see them?" the girl asked. David looked at her as if she stole the words right out of his mouth.

"You can go right in." Victor gestured toward the door.

They found Regina sitting up in the hospital bed, Olivia in her arms. She looked up and smiled at the sight of the girl that entered the room with David.

"Hey." The girl said in a high pitched voice.

David watched as the girl pretty much joined Regina and the baby on the bed. He smiled as he watched Olivia's wide eyes stay fixed on the girl making baby noises at her.

"I think she likes you." Regina smiled at her. "She knows how absolutely beautiful you are."

"None of that is true. For one, newborn babies can't see more than about 6 to 8 inches in front of them, and two….I'm not that beautiful." She said while still smiling at the baby and playing with her.

Regina looked at her, disappointedly annoyed and frustrated. David could tell that they have had this conversation before. That's why Regina looked at the girl so angrily, but the girl didn't seem to be too phased as her attention was fixed on the baby girl who had her index finger in a tight grip.

"Can I hold her?" The girl asked.

Regina looked at Dr. Whale, as if to ask his permission. He shot her an approving look and she gently handed the baby to her. The girl bounced as she walked and baby-talked to Olivia. Regina smiled and then looked at David.

"What?" Regina asked, a little embarrassed at his staring at her.

"Nothing." He said softly, but she knew what he really meant and her smile grew as she looked away blushing.

"What's her middle name?" The girl asked, not taking her eyes off of the girl in her arms.

"What?" Regina asked, snapping out of her thoughts.

"Her middle name…what is it?"

"Oh. Ummm…" Regina's smile faded into a look as if she were deciding if she should tell them or not.

"It's…." She hesitated again. "Victoria. Olivia Victoria is her name."

She looked at Whale and gave him a weak smile. She saw what looked like anger in his eyes and he left the room quickly. The girl's attitude changed a little and she gave Olivia back to Regina.

"I-I better get going." The girl said.

"But why?" Regina wondered, feeling ashamed from Victor's reaction.

"I just-I gotta go."

As soon as Olivia was back in Regina's arms and the girl had left, Olivia began to cry. It was as if she knew that the girl was gone. As if she knew her father's emotions were not at ease, due to his confusion. And as if she knew her mother was at a loss for words and on the verge of crying herself.

David stared at the doorway after the girl left and he turned to look back at Regina.

"Olivia Victoria?"

"yes." Regina said awkwardly, still trying to calm Olivia down and avoiding eye contact with David. She knew that he must know now.

"it's pretty." David said, not very sincere.

It was silent for a moment.

"David, I-"

"I guess I better get back to Emma, Henry, and Mary Margaret." He interrupted.

Regina sadly nodded and he turned to leave. Just before he stepped out of the room, he grabbed the door handle and took one last look at her and the baby. Regina was looking down at Olivia and he could see the hurt on her face. He sighed at the sight of Regina being alone again and he sadly looked at the ground as he closed the door behind him.

"Victor! Victor, wait!"

The girl chased after him as he left the hospital back door to the alley outside. He didn't stop so she raised her voice even more.

"Victor!"

He turned abruptly, causing her to almost run into him.

"What?!"

"I-Are you okay?"

He turned back around as if he was going to walk away, even though the alley was a dead end.

"I'm fine. Juuuuuust great!" He said angrily.

"You know that she-"

"I know that she what?!" He turned around once more, this time inches from her face.

"I- I don't know." The girl said, regretting not having an answer.

He looked down at her somewhat nervous face and chuckled. The chuckle made her a bit uncomfortable due to the darkness behind it, but she stood her ground and didn't budge. She looked up into his eyes as he looked down at her mouth. She then gave him a threatening smirk as if she realized something.

"You've got to be kidding me." The girl chuckled herself. Her chuckle was more of a pitiful chuckle.

"What?" He asked her.

"You've been drinking again, haven't you?"

"Now, why would you say that?" He asked, smiling.

"Well-" She began, but was cut off when his lips slammed into hers.

"Victor!"

She slapped him and he stepped back, touching his lips and smiling.

"You have DEFINITELY been drinking. I know you're having a rough time right now, but I won't talk to you like this…..Call me when you're sober." She said, sounding more offended by his actions than angry.

She turned and left the alley, shaking her head as she also put her fingers to her lips, thinking. Tears, almost running down her face. She felt guilty for actually liking the kiss.

"What did I just do?" He asked himself.

He stood alone in the alley for some minutes before going back inside the hospital and finally feeling very ashamed of what he had just done.

*One Week Later*

Regina paced back and forth with the phone at her ear in the nursery after she'd put Olivia in her crib. This was the tenth time this week the phone had gone straight to voicemail. She had called her everyday and no response. Regina was now getting very worried, and she didn't know what to do anymore. She had also tried getting ahold of victor, but he ignored her calls, as she ignored David's calls.

She needed her, but she had no idea where she was. Regina knew that she couldn't get anymore worried than she already was and she was growing anxious. What might've happened? Something bad. She could feel it in her gut.

As much as she wanted to avoid seeing David for right now, she knew she had to inform the sheriff and the town "mayors" of the situation.

David heard the panic of a familiar voice when he walked into the sheriff's station with Mary Margaret. The first thing they saw was the sight of their daughter trying to calm down the former mayor with the baby in her arms.

"Whoa, whoa. What is going on here?" Mary Margaret asked, nervously.

David knew that whatever it was, it was not good because Regina's eyes were red and puffy from tears.

"There's a missing girl." Emma answered. "Well, Regina seems to THINK that she's missing."

"I don't think! I know!" Regina snapped, sounding like her old self again.

"is this the girl that was at the hospital the other day?" David asked. He ignored the look of confusion he was getting from Mary Margaret and the look of suspicion on Emma's face. They must've wondered what HE was doing at the hospital.

"Yes." Regina said, trying to maintain her composure.

"When was the last time you saw her?" Mary Margaret asked.

"THAT was the last time…in the hospital." Regina's eyes welled up again.

"Did she seem….off?" Emma asked.

"Off?" Regina replied.

"You know, upset…or sad….maybe a little scared?"

"I don't know. She left in kind of a hurry, yes, but I couldn't say." She was getting annoyed at all the questions.

"How old is this girl?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I don't know. I never asked. About 16 maybe."

"Maybe she ran away. You know how teenagers can be. Did you say anything to make her wanna run away?"

"What kind of question is that? I'm not the one responsible for her!" she didn't like the accusations.

"Then why are you so concerned?" Emma asked.

"She's my babysitter. But I've been stuck at home for a week, because I haven't been able to get ahold of her."

"You can't just get another babysitt-?"

"No. she's the only person I can trust."

David felt hurt by that. Regina looked at him and she walked up to him. His eyes accidentally fell to the baby in the arms of the woman standing inches in front of him. He tried to hide the fact that he was attached to this baby girl from his wife and daughter.

"David. Please. I know her. She would never run away." She fought back tears. "Please."

David recognized that voice from her. He knew she was truly terrified and concerned for this girl and he trusted his instincts in knowing that something must definitely be wrong.

To find her, they'd need someone specific…..He called Ruby.


	7. Sometime Is Not Now

A/N: Hey, my beautiful readers. I know this may seem very confusing at first and it may seem as though the focus is mostly on other people right now. But I promise that soon, I will get to the lovey-dovey stuff once everything makes sense. I hope you enjoy!

"Are you sure this is the best way?" Regina asked as nicely as possible when they walked through the freezing woods behind Ruby.

"I've seen her do this before." Snow said, referring to their times in the Enchanted Forest.

"And I've seen her do it to find Belle. It is the best way." David added in.

"And you're sure that leaving Olivia with Granny was okay?"

"Regina, she is the most protective person I know. It wouldn't surprise me if she was holding her crossbow next to the crib right now." Ruby joked and she sniffed again, following her nose.

"How do you know this girl?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I told you…she's my babysitter."

Mary Margaret slowly nodded, not sure if she believed her or not.

"Right. " Emma said, unconvinced.

"She's a little more than that. Back at the hospital, she told me she was your friend." David said in a clueless, nonchalant voice.

Regina wanted to pick up a stick and throw it at him.

"We…."

"It's okay, Regina. You don't have to hide the fact that you do have a heart. You can have friends."

Regina was sure that if her hands weren't so cold, she would've hit snow in the back of the head with a snowball for saying that. How ironic that would be. Regina chuckled at her own thoughts.

"What's so funny?"

Regina cleared her throat. "Nothing….Gosh. it's freezing out here!" she exclaimed.

"Well….it IS winter." Emma said.

Regina glared at her from behind and she tried her best not to seriously throw something. These idiots always have something smart to say.

"Here." David offered her his jacket and Regina shot an annoyed look at him as she continued to walk.

David, confused, just stood there for a moment and watched her walk on ahead, behind the others, as he put his coat back on. He jogged to catch up to her.

"Have I done something wrong?" David whispered as he reached her.

"I can't talk about this right now, David."

"Well, we have to sometime."

"Sometime…..is not now!"

"Hey, is it just me, or are things a little backwards here?" David asked, hurt and a little aggressively.

Regina paused from walking again. "Excuse me?"

He stopped as well and he stepped in front of her, to look face to face. "You're acting like I did something, when really, it's me who should be mad at you."

"What?!"

"Come on, Regina. We both know that the whole time I was under that spell you cast, you and Whale were together."

"I'm sorry, but who's the one who's married here?" she said bitterly.

David had no response. Regina looked into his eyes and fought back tears.

"Like I said, we can't talk about this right now." She walked passed him, their shoulders brushed and she shivered. The shiver was not from the cold…it was from the warmth of him touching her slightly. She had missed his touch, but she ignored it and walked on.

He took a moment to regain his composure and he turned around chasing after her again.

"I apologize." He whispered as they tried catching up to the other three.

"Don't. Just help me find-"

"Regina!" Ruby, Mary Margaret, and Emma yelled all at once.

Regina and David ran to their voices.

"No, no, no, no, no, no."

Regina ran as fast as she could towards the unconscious girl on the ground and she fell to her knees beside her, picking up her head and setting it in her lap. The girl's body was shaking uncontrollably. She had bruises and cuts on her face, arms, and legs. Her clothes were ripped and her skin was ice cold.

"Come on. Wake up. Wake up. Please."

"Regina…." David said quietly.

"You're gonna be okay."

"Regina." Emma repeated for David, just as sadly and quietly.

"What?!"

She turned to look at the horror on each of their faces. They were all looking in the same direction and she followed their gaze. Seeing what they saw, she gasped and her jaw dropped. She pressed her forehead to the young girl's as she finally let her guard down and sobbed.

"Jasmine…" She sniffled. "Who did this to you?"

A tear fell from Regina's eyes and landed on Jasmine's cheek.

*3 Months Ago*

"Hey! Are you coming?" Jasmine yelled up the stairs from the foyer.

"Yes! Just a minute!" Regina yelled from her bedroom.

She paused as she looked in the full body mirror, looking into her own eyes. The dress she wore fully showed the slight bulge in her stomach. She sadly looked at herself, not sure if she was ready for this.

"It's been a minute, Regina!" Jasmine yelled.

Regina let out an annoyed sigh as she rolled her eyes before grabbing the jacket on her bed. She put it over her shoulders and looked at herself one last time in the mirror. She took a deep breath.

"Wow." Victor said as he watched her walk down the stairs.

She blushed and took his arm when he offered it to her on the last step.

"Have a wonderful time, you two." Jasmine smiled as she opened the door letting them out first and following.

"Are you sure you'll be alright walking?" Victor asked the smiling teen. "We could give you a ride."

"Oh, I'll be fine. Just go."

"Ummm….Victor, go ahead to the car. I'll be right there."

He nodded and went ahead as Regina stopped Jasmine for a minute on the walkway.

""What is it?" Jasmine asked.

Regina began breathing heavily and the girl could see the tears in her eyes.

"I-I-I don't think I can do this." She cried as she couldn't keep her feet still. "Are you sure this is the right time?" She whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean….I don't want him to have to be the rebound. I still have feelings for David, but-"

"That's why you should go. Get your mind off things and David. Besides, I can tell that you like him….a lot. You've been spending a lot of time together and I think it's time you finally got out of this house and had a conversation that has nothing to do with him making sure the baby's okay. Just go out and let yourself have fun." She thought for a moment as Regina's breathing steadied. "Which reminds me….Does Victor know that the baby's David's?"

"Yes."

"How'd you tell him?"

"He's a doctor. I didn't need to. He knew that my due date didn't make sense if it was Graham's."

They stood for a moment.

"Well, I guess I should be going now." Regina finally said.

"Oh, right! Yes. Go on."

They looked at eachother, Jasmine realized that Regina still seemed unsure of herself and she smiled at her. Regina weakly smiled back before walking to the car.

Jasmine stood and watched the former mayor before she began to walk towards Granny's Motel.

A/N: Review, review, review. I love to hear your opinions. :D


	8. Justice

A/N: I'm VERY surprised at all of the follows and responses I'm getting to this story. I honestly thought that it was no good when I first decided that I'd even write it. Here's another chapter for you. I hope you enjoy it!

*Present Day*

Regina, David, Emma, Mary Margaret, and Ruby all sat in the waiting room. Regina sat in a chair with her face in her hands as she worried. David stood, leaning against the wall as Emma and Mary Margaret whispered to eachother trying to forget what they had just seen. Ruby sat next to Regina and awkwardly had her hand on her back, trying to comfort the former Evil Queen.

Everyone stood up as Whale entered the waiting room.

"How is she?" Regina asked, her eyes puffier than before, her mascara smudged.

"She's stable." He answered.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief.

"Regina, may I speak with you for a moment? Alone?"

Regina sniffled and she nodded, following him away from everyone else.

"What is it? Can I see her?"

"She's-" He paused.

"What? Whale….you need to tell me. Look, whatever problems we have right now…it needs to be set aside." She looked down and back up at him, finding it hard to finish her statement. "Victor," She took a deep breath, remembering what she saw in the woods. "There was so much blood. I remember when I-" She had to stop again. "What's wrong?"

He hesitated to tell her. "She's in a coma."

"Wh-What?" It was almost as if the wind was knocked right out of her as she found it hard to breathe.

"I-" He didn't know what to say, so he wrapped his arms around her and she let out just one choked sob, a tear escaping Victor's eye.

Soon, everyone else noticed their embrace and the look of pain on each of their faces. Snow put a hand on her heart. Emma's jaw dropped as Ruby put her hand over her mouth and David put his hands on his hips and watched in terror.

"I wanna see her." Regina said, her voice hoarse.

Victor nodded and he led her to the room. As soon as she saw Jasmine with all the tubes and hospital equipment, Regina's heart dropped even farther in her chest than before. She sat in the chair next to the bed and held the young girl's hand. Victor put his hand on Regina's shoulder.

"I-I'm so sorry." Regina's voice cracked as she talked to Jasmine, wishing she could hear her. "I should've protected you." She wiped away the tears that she had realized quietly fell from her brown eyes. "I just- I just wish I could've done everything differently. I wish you could tell me who did this to you."

After Regina put her head on Jasmine's stomach and looked at her for a few minutes, she stood up and gave Victor a sad look. He realized that it was a look telling him that he should hug her again, and he did.

"Victor?"

"Yes?"

She pulled out of his embrace, keeping her arms around his warm torso to look up at him.

"There's one more thing isn't there? She was-"

Regina swallowed, feeling tears well up in her throat. She recalled back in the Enchanted Forest, nights with her late husband, King Leopold.

"Was she-?"

He nodded very gently, his eyes closed. "I'm afraid she was-"

Regina let out another loud breath, a breath of aghast and disbelief. She shook her head as she grew angry.

"We have to find who did this." She said, heartbroken.

"We will, Regina. She knows who did this and when she wakes up-"

"You mean IF she wakes up." Regina said, hopelessly upset, looking at Jasmine.

"No." He put his hand on her chin and turned her head, forcing her to look at him. "I mean when." He pulled her in for another hug and kissed her on the forehead.

"We'll find him, Reggi. Whoever he may be. We'll find justice for your daughter."

*One Week Ago*

Victor went home, thinking about Regina and the baby. "Did she really name the baby after me?" He felt a sense of joy, yet he also felt upset. He couldn't believe that David remembered. Regina had returned Victor's memory about a month ago and he felt special for being the only one who remembered…..aside from Jasmine, who, surprisingly, knew all along.

Jasmine. It was just then that he remembered. He kissed her and she seemed rather upset when she left that day. Should he do talk to her? She had told him not to talk to her unless he was sober….but that was the thing. He wasn't drunk when he kissed her….Yes, he had been drinking, but he wasn't drunk. He had only one or two glasses of Brandy and it usually took him four or five to get even close to being drunk.

He decided he'd go see her.

As he arrived at Granny's, he hesitated to get out of the car. What state could she possibly be in?

He had no idea, but he knew that they'd have to talk about the kiss sometime, and now might be best.

Jasmine was sitting on her bed when she jumped at the knock on the door. She stood and slowly moped over to it. She looked into the peep hole and her heart sank when she saw that it was him.

She sighed.

"What do you want?" She said sadly through the door.

"We need to have a talk."

"Ugh! Go away." She said slowly, without effort. He could tell by the tone in her voice that she actually didn't want him to leave.

"Just…..please let me in, Jasmine."

She put her temple to the door as she leaned against it.

She didn't answer and he also leaned against the door on the other side.

"Jasmine? Please?"

She slowly turned so now her forehead was on the door and she closed her eyes.

"We'll have to talk about this sometime."

She sighed once more and he slowly began to give up on her. He stopped leaning against the door and he took one step to start walking away when he heard the door open behind him.

She stepped aside to let him in and she gently shut it.

A/N: I know that this may seem very twisted right now, but the show's pretty twisted too and what's a good story without awkward surprises like this one, right? Haha! Review, review, review! :D


	9. Product Of True Power

A/N: Hey, Oncers! I apologize for the long wait. I was just on Spring Break and I don't have internet at home! Here's another chapter for you. I hope you enjoy it and leave lots and lots of reviews. They encourage me to keep writing!

*4 Months Ago*

"Regina? Regina, what is it?" Ruby asked from behind the counter as she saw the pained look on the former mayor's face. She realized how Regina was holding her stomach.

"Regina?" Mary Margaret stood up from the booth and walked over to her, putting her hand gently on her back.

"Mom?" Henry actually sounded concerned, the first time in moths since he had.

He, David, and Emma joined Snow on the opposite side of Regina at the counter, Snow White's hand still on her back.

"Regina, what's wrong?" Emma asked silently.

Regina gently swatted away at the helping hand David tried to offer her and she quickly hissed in pain as she did. They all saw the tears in her eyes as she fought back another grimace of pain.

All of a sudden , Snow recognized what was happening. She remembered all too well what she had seen happen to her stepmother in the Enchanted Forest multiple times.

"We need to get her to the hospital! Now!"

Regina slowly opened her eyes, realizing where she was. She looked to her left and saw her son resting his head on the side of the bed holding her hand. Then she remembered. She remembered how she got there. She remembered why she was there. She looked around the room seeing Emma, David, and Snow standing around her bed.

"You gave us quite the scare there, Your Majesty." Dr. Whale said as he entered the room.

"May I speak with the lady alone, please?"

"Sure thing." David said, grabbing Henry's hand, beginning to lead him towards the door.

"Wait!" Henry said.

He ran back to his mother's bedside and gave her a hug and kiss, whispering in her ear.

She smiled weakly. "I love you, too."

When they had finally gone, the doctor closed the door and gave Regina a look of pity. She didn't understand where his concern had cane from suddenly, for she had known him to hate her for as long as they had known each other.

"Did I lose my baby?" She asked as she looked down at her folded hands in her lap.

"Almost. But it was what we call a 'Threatened Miscarriage.' It's mostly caused by stress and high blood pressure. For most of this pregnancy, I suggest you stay free of stress if you want to keep this baby. If not, then-"

"I do." She interrupted, annoyed at his remarks. "When can I go home?"

"Your Majesty, when-"

"Don't call me that!" She snapped. She never did like that moniker due to her unhappy life as queen.

"Yes. Ms. Mills, normally when women have threatened miscarriages they're forced into bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy."

"I can't do that." Regina said, looking away while trying to stay self sufficient, as usual.

"Oh, but you must."

"I've had several miscarriages before, and I never stayed in bed for longer than a day after."

He immediately drew back, a little saddened to learn of her past.

"You must let me go home to recover, otherwise, who knows what'll happen."

"Is that a threat?" He didn't mean to smirk when he said it, but he did. Frankly, he liked it when Regina thought she was so tough.

Regina noticed the smirk and realized he was joking, something she wasn't used to from anyone other than David. She decided she'd try her best to play along.

"Hmmm...it might be." She said in a sarcastic, low voice.

They both chuckled.

"Alright, I'm just doing my job. I'll see what I can do. Perhaps I can get you a stay-at-home nurse."

Regina rolled her eyes. "No."

Dr. Whale rolled his eyes right back and let out a sigh.

"Fine. Be my guest. I'm just...trying to help."

"Really? I thought you were just doing your job?" She returned his playful smirk.

He tried to fight back his smile, but couldn't.

"You know, you're the only other person I know who's as stubborn as I am." He said.

"Hmmm...Then you haven't met my evil twin...Regina."

He looked at her, confused at first, and she burst out in laughter.

"I'm kidding."

He finally saw it as a joke and he followed in her laughter. After laughing a little too hard, Regina stopped. The pain was not all gone yet. She held back a groan, not wanting to worry him, knowing that he would definitely not let her go home if she seemed worse than she was.

"Can I get you to sign this?" He asked, handing her his clipboard and pen.

"Sure. What is it?" She took it and speed read most of it.

"Just a statement saying that I got your consent for all of our procedures. The earliest that I might be able to get you out will probably be tomorrow evening. But that's the best I can do."

"It'll do." She signed the waver and handed it back to him.

When he went to take the clipboard from her, he accidentally grabbed her hand and they both paused for a minute and looked into each other's eyes, the room fell silent.

Finally, after about three seconds, their 'moment' was interrupted by a long beep coming from the receptionist desk. Dr. Whale cleared his throat and broke the eye contact taking the clipboard from her.

"You'd better get some rest." He said awkwardly.

"Right." She responded, almost in a whisper as she looked back at her folded hands in her lap once more.

He walked toward the door and just before exiting, he turned to look back at her and saw how peaceful she looked with her eyes closed as she tried to fall asleep. He shook his head and left the room.

What was he thinking? She was the Evil Queen. She ruined his life and she was having the deceased sheriff's baby. Wait a minute! How was she having Graham's baby? The time did not add up at all. It doesn't matter, does it? Why did he want the truth so badly? Anyways, she wouldn't tell him the truth even if he asked her.

"What are these feelings I'm having? And for her? She would never be with me anyway, she's a queen and I'm nothing but a man turned into a monster...How can I get her to take better care of herself during this pregnancy? She can't lose another child without going completely insane, if she hadn't already. I need to do something to keep her healthy, keep her baby safe, keep her sane, and keep her from becoming the Evil Queen again. Something that she wouldn't protest. I think I have an idea...let's hope it works."

Regina woke up from her nightmare. hearing a knock at her door.

"Hello." The girl in the doorway greeted.

Regina looked at her tiredly.

"May I come in?"

Regina nodded and gestured for her to enter.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"Oh no. That's okay. I was kind of having a crazy dream anyway."

"Dreams are usually good, though. They're said to be our inner most desires and wishes taking over our lives in our sleep, creating a whole new world."

"You're very smart for your age. You don't seem much older than 15 to me, yet you say the wisest things."

"I guess you could say it's in my blood."

Regina, confused, decided to properly introduce herself.

"I'm Regina."

"I know. My name is Jasmine."

"I remember you from the diner."

The girl gave her a small smile which slowly faded as she looked worried and asked her next question.

"How are you? Did you-"

"No. The doctor said it was close, but-" Regina was curious as to how she even knew she was pregnant. Granted, she was showing a bit, but she hadn't thought she was too big yet. "You said it's in your blood...What do you mean?"

"Genetics. It's crazy how they work, isn't it? They say the product of true love is the most powerful. Others say the product of true power is."

"And what do you believe?" Regina asked.

"I don't know yet."

There was a moment of silence and all they could hear were the sounds of the hospital machines in the rooms around them.

"You said you were looking for your mother? Were you abandoned in our land?"

"I guess you could say that."

"I'm sorry. That must be-"

"Well, technically, I was kidnapped, but it was kind of my mother's fault that I was. Well, not really...she was told that I died during child birth, but truthfully, I was sold. So I've spent this much time searching for her...and well...you already know the story. Well, part of it."

"I do?"

The girl looked at her skeptically.

"You do."

Regina was confused and looked at the girl, speechless.

"Jasmine, I don't-"

"You didn't even look for me." She sounded hurt and resentful.

"Wait. You think that I'm your moth-"

"You are." She interrupted persistently. "The reason that I'm so wise for my age, is because I am the product of true power."

"True power?" Regina quietly asked herself. Her eyes widened when she realized.

"Make a wish, Regina."

"A wish?" Regina gasped. "You're-"

"-Half genie, half sorceress." She finished.

"You're...?"

"Yes, I'm alive." The teen said quietly and Regina looked at her in complete shock.

A/N: I hope you liked it. I'll update as soon as I can. Review, review, review!


	10. Apple Doesn't Fall Too Far From The Tree

A/N: Hey, I know this may be a little confusing right now, but I promise it will all make sense after this chapter...Hopefully! Haha! This chapter's written a little differently...it's written in a script format, but it should still make sense. Enjoy! :D

[Enchanted Forest-Past]

(Regina sits in her bed chamber, waiting for the huntsman to arrive.

Rumpelstilstkin magically appears.)

Rumple: Congratulations, dearie! You've managed to kill the king. Now, what's your plan?

Regina: Killing Snow White!

Rumple: How are you proposing to do that? A poison? A curse? Ripping her heart out from her very chest?

Regina:(interrupts) A huntsman.

Rumple: Really? Not what I expected.

Regina: What exactly did you expect?

Rumple: I don't know. Something more personal, perhaps?

Regina: Why does it matter to you?

Rumple: It doesn't.

(Regina rolls her eyes)

Rumple: Besides, that's not what I came here for. You've got bigger problems, dearie.

Regina: Yeah? And what's that?

Rumple: You don't know? Tell me, dearie. How is it, that a magic mirror can tell you all you need to know, but it does not tell you this?

Regina: He only sees what he's looking for.

(Rumple chuckles evilly)

Regina: Tell me what?

Rumple: Let's just say, it'll be difficult to get your revenge from inside the castle nursery.

(Rumple disappears in a cloud of smoke and Regina stands shocked,

with one hand on her stomach)

*Months Later*

(Regina is giving birth in her bed chamber. Nurse 1 is birthing the baby and

Nurse 2 is holding a stick for Regina to bite down on)

Nurse 2: Last push, Your Majesty.

Nurse 1: It's a girl.

(Regina smiles at the baby in Nurse 1's arms.

Both nurses exchange worried looks.)

Regina: What's wrong? Why isn't she crying?

Nurse 2: I don't know.

Nurse 1: She's not breathing.

*Hours Later*

(Regina is lying in her bed, resting.

The two nurses enter, saddened.)

Nurse 2: We're sorry, Your Majesty.

Nurse 1: She didn't make it.

(Regina turns over in her bed to face away from them and cries)

Regina: Leave me!

(The nurses leave and go to the nursery.

Rumple magically appears next to the crib.)

Rumple: Well done, dearies!

Nurse 2: We've done our part. Now, do you have what we desire?

Rumple: Well, well. Getting right down to business, aren't we?

Nurse 1: Just making sure you hold your end of the bargain.

Rumple: Well, of course. I never break a deal.

(Rumple hands each nurse a satchel full of gold coins,

picks up the baby, and vanishes.)

*Agrabah-Past*

(A sultan is sitting in his castle, waiting.

Rumple magically appears with the baby girl.)

Sultan: Is that him?

Rumple: Her. It's a girl.

(The sultan walks over to Rumple to take the baby,

but Rumple magically disappears and reappears behind him.)

Rumple: Ah, ah, ah! Do you have what I need?

(The sultan hands Rumple a bottle of squid ink.)

Sultan: There! You have what you want. Now, may I hold my daughter?

(Rumple hands him the baby.)

Sultan: She's beautiful. What about her mother?

Rumple: You won't have to worry about Regina.

Sultan: Regina?

(Rumple vanishes before the sultan can ask anymore questions. The baby begins to stir but the sultan comforts her and kisses her on the forehead.)

Sultan: Sssshhh…it's okay. You're safe now….Jasmine.

[Enchanted Forest-Past]

(Regina's in the nursery, sad. She hugs a teddy bear that was in the crib. Her father enters to comfort her. They hug.)

Henry Sr.: I'm so sorry, Regina.

Regina: I don't know how to tell him, Daddy.

Henry Sr.: Maybe you won't have to.

Regina: He'll find out. He sees things. He knows things…when he looks for them. He'll wonder why I've had the mirrors covered and he'll look for an answer.

Henry Sr.: Then let him.

(In her bedroom, Regina pulls down a cover from a mirror.)

Mirror: Your Majesty. It's been long.

Regina: Indeed, it has.

Mirror: Is there something you need to tell me?

(Regina hesitates and thinks about telling him, but changes her mind)

Regina: No.

Mirror: Are you sure about that? You know, I am a magic mirror. I can see that you're hiding something from me.

Regina: It doesn't matter.

Mirror: Yes it does. If it's something I need to know, then it does matter.

(No answer)

Mirror: You can either tell me, or I'll search for it.

Regina: You won't even know what to search for.

Mirror: I know to search for you and I know how long it's been since the last time you've looked at your reflection. So I will find it.

Regina: (angered) Go ahead!

(The mirror sees different images as time went by

and finally reaches an image of her pregnant)

Mirror: We have a child?

Regina: Not anymore. She's gone.

*Agrabah-Past*

(It's almost Jasmine's 16th birthday and her father is trying

to find her a husband, but she doesn't want

an arranged marriage.)

Jasmine: Father! It's not fair! Why can't I marry who I want to marry?

Sultan: Because, I'm trying to protect you.

Jasmine: From what?!

(No answer)

Jasmine: (calms down) Daddy, I just want my own life.

Sultan: And you can have it…with a husband I choose for you.

Jasmine: (angry again) Why?!

Sultan: Because Jasmine! There are some things that you just don't need to know.

(Jasmine runs out onto the balcony, crying

and Rumple magically appears.)

Rumple: Sorry to interrupt. I see things are going well.

Sultan: Ugh, what do you want?

Rumple: Just seeing how things are, dearie. Having trouble?

Sultan: She doesn't want to marry anyone I choose for her. She just wants her own husband and her own life.

Rumple: (under his breath) The apple doesn't fall to far from the tree. (to the Sultan) Well, you must get her to marry soon. We had a deal. She must marry before she turns 18.

Sultan: You don't have to keep reminding me! I know the deadline.

Rumple: No need to get testie, dearie.

(Jasmine is on the balcony,

crying when she looks up at the stars,

she slowly closes her eyes

and jumps at the sound of someone's voice.)

Blue Fairy: Hello, Jasmine.

Jasmine: How do you know my name?

Blue Fairy: The same way I know lots of things…magic.

Jasmine: Magic?

Blue Fairy: Yes.

Jasmine: Who are you?

Blue Fairy: Someone who can help.

Jasmine: How?

Blue Fairy: However you'd like me to.

Jasmine: My father wants me to marry, but the men he picks for me… I can't marry them.

Blue Fairy: Because you don't love them.

Jasmine: No. I want to marry someone I choose. Someone I love. Someone who loves me.

Blue Fairy: Is that all you wish?

Jasmine: No. There is something else.

Blue Fairy: You wish you could meet your mother.

Jasmine: But it's not possible. She passed away when I was a baby.

Blue Fairy: I'm afraid that's not true.

Jasmine: What?

Blue Fairy: Your mother is very much alive.

Jasmine: Where is she?

Blue Fairy: Her name is Regina. She lives in another land.

Jasmine: How can I find her?

Blue Fairy: Your father. He has a magical carpet that can travel between lands. Get it from him, and you will find your mother and your true love.

Jasmine: How do I get it from him?

Blue Fairy: Tell him you will go out and find your own true love with it. And when you return, you will be ready to marry and ascend to the throne.

Jasmine: Thank you. Thank you so much.

(Jasmine turns to leave)

Blue Fairy: There is one thing you must know. How the carpet works…it doesn't take you where you want to go, but where you need to go…and only when you are ready to go there. Wherever it takes you, there is a reason. And…you may not find your mother right away.

Jasmine: But I AM ready.

Blue Fairy: The carpet will decide when you are TRULY ready.

A/N: I hope this chapter cleared some things up a bit. If not, let me know in the reviews! :*


	11. Deja Vu

A/N: Hey readers, I apologize for the long wait for this chapter.I haven't had internet for almost a year now and I was using the school's, but school ended so now I just take what I can get. I also understand that some people may not agree with this idea of this love triangle and Jasmine showing up, but I have a good story coming up I promise. Please just hang in there with me and hopefully you will enjoy the rest of this journey.

*Present Day*

Regina gasped and quickly lifted her head as she was awaken by a long beep of a machine on the receptionist desk. It had been a week and Jasmine was still in a coma. Regina held her hand and as she slowly remembered where she was, she squeezed Jasmine's hand a little harder, hoping that if she squeezed tighter, her daughter would wake up. But, she did not move.

Regina kissed her hand and jumped as she was startled by a knock on the door behind her. She turned around to see Victor.

"Is it alright if a few visitors came in?" He asked.

She sniffled and rubbed an eye, still a little tired due to her lack of a comfortable sleep. She lightly nodded.

"Yeah." Her voice was a little hoarse from exhaustion.

She was stunned to see who these guests were. None other than the Charmings themselves...and her son who, to her surprise, ran up to her. She didn't have enough time to react at this as he hugged her from the side, considering she had only turned halfway to see Victor knock on the door.

Regina tried to find the strength to smile, but she couldn't. She hugged her son back as she looked down at him. Suddenly, she had finally realized that Henry was growing. She was able to rest her head on the top of his without leaning over too much. As she did, a stray tear found its way down her cheek and into his hair.

How was she going to tell her son that he had a sister? Even worse, how was she going to tell him that his sister was the girl in the hospital bed? The girl who was close to death?

"Hey, Regina." Mary Margaret said softly. Regina was shocked at the sound of actual concern in her voice.

"We brought flowers." David said as he slowly set them on the stand next to the bed.

She gave him a look that he recognized as a thank you, yet she said nothing.

"How is she?" Emma asked.

"No changes." Regina said as she motioned for them to sit in the other chairs on the opposite side of the bed. She slowly sat down herself, following them.

Henry stayed standing and he moved closer to the bed, staring at the young girl. He had the same look on his face that he had before the curse was broken. The look of wonder. He wondered who she could be and how she fit into their story. Had he seen her in his fairytale book? He couldn't remember.

"I'm sure she will be alright. From what we saw in the forest, she's a fighter." David said as he reached over the bed to put his hand on Regina's.

She looked up at him and gently smiled. Her eyes quickly flicked to Emma, who looked at them suspiciously and she pulled her hand away, only to set it on Henry's.

"Who was she?"

"There it is." Regina thought to herself. Henry's curiosity was back and she was afraid he'd ask and she would have no idea how to explain it to him.

She opened her mouth and no sound came out, causing Henry to ask another question as he turned his body to fully face his adoptive mother.

"Is she from your land?" He asked, almost smiling. Operation Cobra in his tone of voice as he asked it.

"She was." Regina said, almost in a whisper as her voice broke.

"Who was she?"

"I don-" She stopped as she urged herself not to cry. She couldn't lie to him.

She looked down and took a deep breath.

"What's her name?" Henry asked.

When Regina couldn't answer, David did for her.

"It's Jasmine."

"Jasmine? Like, from Aladdin."

Regina let out a short but loud breath as she still looked at the ground. She smiled to keep from sobbing.

"Afraid so." She answered.

"What happened to her?" Henry asked.

"We don't know yet. But we will when she wak-" She looked at the floor once more. "I mean IF she wakes up."

The room grew silent for a moment, then David realized someone was missing in the room.

"Regina...Where's Olivia?"

Emma shot another look of suspicion at her father and back to Regina when she began to answer.

"She's-"

"Um...Regina may I speak with you for a moment?" Victor entered.

Regina turned to look back at David before she left and she nodded as she slowly stood to follow the doctor outside of the room.

"So..." Emma began after Regina left. "Olivia?" Everyone in the room could tell that she was talking to David.

"Victor...did you find anything?" Regina asked when they stepped into the hallway.

"Nothing yet-" He said, and Regina sighed. "...but don't worry. I'm sure we'll find something soon." He tried reassuring her.

"Victor, what if she doesn't wake up?"

"Regina." She turned around. "Reggi." He hugged her from behind, but she tried to step away.

"Victor. We can't. People will see."

"When are we gonna tell them about us?" Victor asked.

"I think David already knows."

Victor opened his mouth to say something when they heard yelling in the room and they quickly ran in.

"David! Tell the truth!" Emma yelled as David tried to shush her and Snow was confused.

"Emma, I don't know what-" David began.

"Oh, come on!"

"Alright! That is enough, Emma!" Mary Margaret scolded.

"No! Not until he admits it!"

"Admits what?!" Victor yelled when he and Regina returned.

"Mama?"

"Jasmine?!" Regina rushed to the side of her bed, shocked that the young girl was awake, even more shocked that she actually called her 'Mama.' It was the first time ever.

"Mama?" Emma, Henry, David, and Snow said at the same time.

"Nurse! Nurse! I need you in here. Now!" Victor yelled. "I'm gonna need the room cleared."

"But-" Regina began.

"Now!"

*3 Months Ago* (The night before Victor and Regina's first date out )

It was a calm night and all that was heard through the mayor's mansion were the sounds of laughter coming from the dining room. Regina had invited Victor to stay for dinner after her check up that afternoon. He was thrilled to see that his plan had worked, but he never intended on falling in love with her.

That night in the hospital when she almost lost the baby, he had decided that his plan would be to personally be her stay-at-home doctor since she'd refused to let anyone else realize that she could be weak at times. They had spent the last few months just casually getting to know eachother. The first couple weeks were just plainly professional, and that's all Victor had intended his visits to be. Soon enough, he began to look at her smile the way he had never seen before, especially when he let her listen to the baby's heartbeat.

"Regina? May I ask you a question?"

"Of course." He loved her voice.

"Who's the real father?"

"I'm sorry?"

"You heard me."

"I'm not sure I did-"

"Don't play games with me, Regina. I know that there's no way Graham is the father."

"And how would you know that?"

"Please! I'm a doctor. Plus, one other thing doesn't check out...The timing. He died way before you could've gotten pregnant."

She bit her lip, fighting back a snarky remark she had placed in her mind, and she looked away from him as she raised one eyebrow in anger. She inhaled deeply and annoyingly.

"Who is it?"

No answer.

"It's David, isn't it?"

She quickly jotted her eyes at him and he noticed the tears welling up in her dark orbs.

"Why on Earth would you think something like that?" She snapped.

"I've seen the way you look at him."

She looked away again as her hand moved to rest on her stomach, as a reflex.

"No one's ever looked at ME like that before." He thought out loud. This got Regina's attention and she looked back at him as he seemed to daydream at the plate on the table in front of him.

He shook his head. "Sorry."

"No need to apologize." She said in a low, understanding voice.

There was a moment of silence. Outside the half open window, they heard the September winds blowing and the leaves on the autumn trees rustled, waitingly.

"Have you ever looked back at your life and wanted to change something?"

"Hm?" Regina asked as she only heard half of what he was saying due to her own thoughts.

"If you could go back in time, what's one thing you would change? I mean, I know you'd do something to save Daniel, but is there anything else? Anything at all?"

"Well..." She thought for a moment. "There may be one thing."

He waited, and his silence burned her ears as she heard rain start to pour, hitting the inside of the window sill.

"My...My-"

"Your what?"

"My daughter."

"You have a daughter?"

"I do."

It took him a while to respond. "Where is she? Is she in Storybrooke?"

"She is."

"Wow..." He tried to process this. "Do I know her?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think anyone does."

"Really?" He asked astonishingly. "You regret having her?"

"No?" She said, almost as if she was trying to convince herself.

"What is it you would change?"

"I wouldn't have let her go."

"What happened to her?"

There was a slight pause and a small jump in her stomach. "I don't want to talk about this anymore." She slowly stood and grabbed the plates.

He watched her walk toward the kitchen, closing the window on the way out of the dining room. Once she was out of his sight, he finally stood and followed her in. He leaned against the counter next to the sink as she turned the nozzle. She flinched at the sound of the water hitting the dishes. He noticed, but she tried to contain herself as she began pouring the dish liquid onto the plates and grabbed the sponge.

"Why don't you let me do that?" He asked as he tried to reach for the sponge that was already pressed against the first plate.

"No. It's fine. I got it." Her hands were shaking and she dropped the plate, jumping at the loud noise it made as it hit the inside of the sink.

She attempted to pick the plate up again...and as she did, she felt Victor's hand grab her shaking fingers and gently take the plate from her left hand. Meanwhile, his right hand slowly took the sponge from her and he began to finish the scrubbing while she slowly stepped aside.

She walked around him and leaned against the counter on his left side.

"It wasn't my fault." She said suddenly as he finished rinsing the last piece of silverware.

"What?" He asked as he dried his hands.

"Jasmine, my daughter. It wasn't my fault."

"What wasn't your fault?" He turned around, crossed his arms and leaned against the sink to listen to her story.

"Losing her. I thought she was dead and I never wanted her. I wasn't in love with her father...I didn't love him at all, I just needed him...to get rid of the king, but I had no idea that I'd end up-" She paused, but he knew what she meant. She wasn't expecting to get pregnant, especially with someone she was just using. "I love her, I do, but...after all these years...I just-"

He gently and slowly put his hand up to her chin, lifting her face to his for a light kiss, but she pulled away before their lips touched when she felt something very strange.

"I'm sorry. I can't-" she began. She was having deja vu. This was exactly how things started with David in Storybrooke. She shook her head.

"What are you afraid of?" He wondered.

"Nothing, it's just-too fast." He took a step back. "And I-"

"You what?"

She put her hand on her stomach and looked away from him.

"Just give me a chance." He said.

She shook her head.

"What if I took you out first? We can get to know each other better? What do you say?"

She shook her head while blinking several times. "I'd have to think about it."

He saw the sadness in her eyes and remembered that he was the one who'd told her to stay free of stress for the baby, so he wanted to quickly cheer her up.

"I've been rejected? By you? Oh no!" He quickly grabbed his chest. "My heart! You Evil Queen! You ripped it right out of my chest! Please! Have mercy!"

At first, she lifted one eyebrow and gave him her famous 'seriously' look due to the fact that he was honestly making a joke about her ripping hearts out, but she began to realize how silly he was being and he fell to his knees on the floor.

"Please? Your Majesty, say yes or just put me out of my misery! You can't leave me like this. Look! I kneel before you."

She looked down at him on her linoleum kitchen floor and she began to laugh.

"Why do you laugh at my pain?" He said, over dramatically.

"You may rise, peasant..." He began to stand but she put a finger out to stop him. "...IF, you kiss my hand first."

He took her hand in one of his and kissed it, still holding his chest with the other.

"Now, My Queen. May I have my heart back?" He looked up at her.

Regina was still trying not to laugh again.

"Alright." She gave in. "Tomorrow night would be fine."

"Oh. Thank you, Your Majesty!" He stood and put his hands on his chest as if he were making sure his heart was truly back. "I can't tell if it's beating. Will you check for me?" He put his hands together as if he were begging for help.

She laughed once more. "Alright." He moved his hands and she was able to put her head to his chest.

"Yes. It's beating." She answered.

He let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Please. No need to be so formal. If you're taking me out, you might as well call me by my name."

"Of course, Reg-" He stopped, wanting to give her a nickname. "Reggi."

She thought about it for a moment. "Fine. If that's what you shall call me for one night on our date, so be it." She said, dramatically majestic, trying not to laugh.

"If I shall have you for a night, then yes...that is what I will call you."

"Yes, you shall have me."

He finally was out of character and back to being Victor when he made the next remark.

"Hmm...so that's all it takes? Huh!"

"Hey!"

She playfully hit him on the arm and they both laughed.

"Hmm...What's going on in here?" They heard a voice coming from the doorway to the kitchen and both turned. They must've laughed so hard that they didn't even hear the front door open.

"Oh, Jasmine." Regina seized her smiling when she felt as if she were caught for some reason. "This is Vic-I mean Dr. Whale." She tried to look professional.

"Oohhh." Jasmine smiled playfully and leaned against the door frame with her arms crossed, as if she had heard stories about him from Regina.

"Dr. Whale, this is Jasmine." She introduced awkwardly.

"Your daughter?" He stepped forward.

"Nice to meet you, Dr. Whale." She put her hand out to shake his.

He grabbed her hand, but to her surprise he did not shake it.

"The daughter of a Queen deserves much more than a handshake." He said, back into his 'charming peasant' character. Then he kissed her hand the same way he had just kissed Regina's a second ago. "And please...Call me Victor." They both laughed, causing Regina's smile to return.

"We were just about to have some dessert in front of the fireplace. Care to join us?" Regina offered and Jasmine smiled and nodded.

"I'd love to."

Moments later, they were sitting in front of the couch by the warm fire, laughing and eating some of Regina's delicious homemade apple pie as they talked. In that moment, Regina had no regrets (even after they laughed at Victor's joke about the pie possibly being poisonous).


	12. Take The Pain Away

A/N: So, I decided that I was too excited for you to read this one, so I had to update my it now. Haha. Thanks for all of your favorites and follows. This is my favorite chapter for some reason, so please please please let me know how you feel about it. Thank you! Mwah!

* Present Day*

Everyone left and two nurses ran in to check her vitals and take her blood for testing. Victor stayed in the room to ask Jasmine if she knew where she was, who she was, and if she knew what year it was to make sure she did not have amnesia.

About ten minutes had passed and everyone was in complete shock about what had happened before Jasmine woke up. It took everyone's strength not to bring up the question rattling in their heads."Did Jasmine really call Regina 'Mama'?"

Regina asked herself the same question as they waited. This truly was the first time Jasmine had ever called her 'Mama' and Regina felt strangely about it.

"How is she?" Regina rushed to Victor when he returned.

"She's doing good."

Everyone smiled and Regina let out a faint yelp of joy.

"Can we see her?" Henry asked.

"I don't want to overwhelm her, so I think just one visitor would be alright for now."

"That should probably be you, Regina." Emma said.

"You're really the only one who knows her." Snow added.

Regina hesitated and looked at Victor as she nodded, letting him know that she would go in to see Jasmine. He nodded back and put his arm on her back as he led her toward the room. She looked back at David and just before she entered the room, she gave Henry a weak smile and followed Victor in.

Regina walked in slowly, still unsure of herself. She approached Jasmine's bed and winced at the black and blue marks on her arms and face. The cut on Jasmine's upper lip immediately made Regina stop in her tracks and slowly touch the similar scar on her own lip before she continued to walk over to the side of the bed. She had received that cut from a night with an angry Leopold.

"J-Jasmine?" Regina finally found the strength to say.

She slowly opened her eyes and turned her head to face Regina who had set her hand on Jasmine's.

"Hey." Jasmine smiled weakly and tried to sit up in the bed, but she had some trouble. She groaned quietly in pain.

"Easy." Victor said, Regina looking at him with concern. He gently put his hand on her shoulder to prevent her from trying to change the position of the bed.

The second he touched her, she looked up at him and almost dropped the button that adjusted the bed. He looked into her eyes and recognized that look on her face. He immediately took his hand off of her and stepped back.

"You should be careful from now on." Regina said, unaware of the look Jasmine had given Victor.

"I don't need to do anything." She said bitterly. "All I need to do is get out of here and-"

She felt another sharp pain and tried sitting up again.

"Jasmine, don't-"

"What?!" She yelled at Victor.

Regina was stunned at the reaction from Jasmine towards Victor, but she lightly smirked, seeing bits of herself in her own daughter.

"I just want to sit up and this stupid button doesn't work." It seemed as though Jasmine was losing it and she started shaking the controller frustratingly.

Regina grabbed her hand and took the controller from her as she gently pushed the button for her. It worked and Jasmine let out an annoyed sigh before she put her hand to her forehead.

"I'm sorry." Jasmine said calmly and quietly, her eyes still closed.

"Jasmine, what happened? Who did this to you?" Regina asked.

She shook her head.

"Jasmine?" Regina repeated her name, gently grabbing her hand.

The young girl opened her eyes and looked at Victor, who now felt nervous.

"I'm gonna-I-" Victor turned and left the room, leaving Regina even more confused.

After he left, Regina kept her eyes on the floor near the door over her shoulder. She slowly turned her head back around, thinking. Jasmine could tell that the look on her face was a look that needed an explanation, but she said nothing.

"What was all that abo-"

Regina stopped midsentence when she realized Jasmine had finally broke and tears were streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry. I'm not like this."

"Like what, dear?"

"A cry baby, a drama queen, the weak girl that needs her mother everytime she bumps her knee. I'm a lot stronger than this."

"Jasmine...This is no bump on a knee. You were taken advantage of. And anyone, even the strongest of girls need someone after an experience like tha-"

"Yeah? How would you know?!" The teen snapped bitterly.

Regina swallowed sadly and Jasmine looked at her with anger.

"Trust me. I'm fine!" Jasmine began to stand, obviously in pain.

"What do you think you're doing?" Regina asked.

"I have to get out of here. It's time I continued to take care of myself again. I did it in the Enchanted Forest, I can do it here."

"But, Jasmine, you-"

"No buts..." She grabbed her clothes, and paused to stare at them for a moment, as she saw that they were still blood stained. She lifted her head as if it didn't even phase her and limped into the bathroom.

"Jasmine..."

"What!?" She yelled from inside the bathroom.

A few seconds later she came out of the bathroom, still in her hospital gown, now aware of why Regina tried getting her attention.

Her clothes were ripped from the 'attack' and cut from the hospital scissors in the doctors's attempt to save her.

Jasmine stood and thought for a moment, ignoring the smirk on Regina's face. The smirk was as if Regina knew that there was no getting out of this one for Jasmine.

"I'm leaving in this then."

"No."

"Yes, I am."

"No, darling. You're not!"

"Look." Jasmine said viciously. "I was fine all those years without you...I'll be fine now."

That was what Regina was afraid of hearing before entering the room that evening. She froze and her daughter walked passed her.

"You were out for a week." Regina said softly, still frozen with her hands in her coat pockets.

Jasmine stopped at the door and took a deep breath in. Regina turned around and looked at her, Jasmine never moving.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there. I should've been...to protect you. I still haven't forgiven myself."

Jasmine turned her head very slightly to only see her mother in her perrefural vision.

"I'll be fine, Regina." She suddenly left the room, trying her hardest not to limp and show her pain.

Regina just stood in Jasmine's hospital room for what seemed like forever. After a few minutes, Victor walked by and stopped just outside the door, expecting to see Jasmine. He looked around the room and even noticed that the bathroom door was open and empty.

"Regina?"

"Yeah." She asked in a monotone voice, staring off into space.

"Where's Jasmine?"

"She left."

"She-What?! She left?"

"Yeah."

"Where did she go!?"

"Didn't say." She answered, staring at the floor in front of her.

"And you just let her go!? She's not well enough yet. She can hardly walk!"

No answer.

"Regina! What do you think you're doing!?"

She finally snapped out of it and walked up to him. They were visible by everyone in the waiting room now.

"Me!? What about you?! What was all that about before?!"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, please. You both looked like you were ready to burst being in the same room together. What's going on?!"

He did not answer.

"Regina?" David and the others could hear now.

"Mom. What's going on?" Henry asked.

Regina ignored everyone else and continued to interrogate Victor.

"What is it, Victor?" She asked the next part with a little less hostility. "Do you know something about what happened to her?"

"No. I don't."

"Victor!" She yelled rather loudly. This was no time for lies. If he knew, she needed to know as well.

"I don't!" He yelled back.

"Then what is it? What!?"

"I kissed her, alright!?" Victor yelled. The entire waiting room went silent and Regina froze once again.

"You what?" David asked.

"Jasmine?" Mary Margaret wondered. Were they seriously talking about the teenager?

Victor cautiously looked around, finally remembering that they were seen and heard by everyone.

"Repeat that, please?" Emma said with her arms crossed.

"I was-"

"You kissed my daughter?!" Regina finally found her voice.

Everyone who had been listening gasped and looked at Victor, waiting for the answer.

Mr. Gold returned to his shop with the supplies he had just gone out to buy. He began to put the key into the hole in the door before he hesitated. As he stopped, he smiled and then sighed annoyingly. He finished unlocking the door and walked in quietly. He set down his things and stopped when he heard a noise come from the back. He walked slowly towards the entrance to his office, readying his cane for anything.

When he entered the back, he saw what he was not expecting.

"Hello, dearie. Normally, I'd say that the shop was closed, but seeing as you decided to help yourself into my personal office anyway, I guess you already knew that."

Jasmine did not stop her search.

"I need to find it. Where is it?!"

"Well, that depends on what you're looking for."

"Don't play games with me." She said as she annoyingly squinted at him. "What else would I be looking for?"

"What you're looking for will not help you, dearie."

"How do you know?" She returned to tearing the place apart.

He ignored the fact that he had just reorganized the office and he continued to smile at her. Amused at her optimism.

"It'll only make matters worse." He said.

"It'll save everyone else."

"Not so sure about that. If he gets what he wants, he'll become even more powerful than your darling mother."

"I have a plan."

"Yeah? And what's that?"

She stopped.

"You don't actually know, do you?"

"I'll think of one." She continued.

He started to get irritated, because he honestly did not have what she wanted.

"Your mother has it."

She was not surprised. She walked over to the desk and leaned on it, her back facing him in frustration. He noticed that she moved in pain.

"You know, I can probably fix that for you. "

Jasmine looked at the bruises on her arms, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"I'm fine." She said indifferently.

He softly chuckled.

"Your mother used to say that after nights with the king."

She slowly wiped away a tear she had not known was forming in her eye. She felt guilty for snapping at Regina in the hospital. She HAD known what it was like to be taken advantage of.

"Listen, I've seen what this sort of thing did to your mother and look how she turned out. This changes people, and if you don't let me heal you, he'll get exactly what he wants."

She turned and finally looked him in the eye, for the first time that day. He slowly walked over to her and conjured a magic wand in his hand. She closed her eyes as he leisurely moved the wand from her head to her toes and some of the pain slowly disappeared.

He looked at the mark on her lip.

"Unfortunately I cannot remove the marks, but I can take a little bit of the pain away."

One last tear escaped her eye and she sat down in the chair next to her letting out a deep breath as she became more frustrated with herself for needing someone else's help.


	13. Truth And Safety

A/N: I'm sorry that this was pretty late again. I'm trying my hardest, I promise! But let me know what you think of this one in the R & R section! Mwah!

"You kissed her daughter?" David repeated when it seemed as though Regina couldn't move anymore.

"Are you crazy?! She's 16 years old!" Mary Margaret yelled, just recently learning of the girl's age.

"She's 17!" Victor finally yelled.

"And that makes it better?" Emma asked, appallingly.

"Like you're one to talk!" Victor said, gesturing to Henry.

Everyone's jaw dropped, except for Regina, who was still in shock.

"This is ridiculous." David said.

"Is it, David?" Victor asked. "What about you?"

David just stood there.

"David, what's he talking about?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I suppose you've been wondering who Olivia's father is?" Victor said.

"What?" Snow smiled and let out an absurd chuckle.

It was silent once again, and the truth was known.

"No. There's no way. Tha-" She looked at her husband. Upon seeing his face, her smile transformed into a frown and hopeless look. "David?"

David just stared at Regina, who was still staring at the floor.

"You see?...Me kissing the 17 year old is the least of your worries." Victor said to Snow smartly.

That was it. Regina slapped him across the face and began to walk away from the waiting room to leave through the back door. Victor began to run after her calling her name, but David quickly caught up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Let go of me!"

"No. You need to give her a minute. Before either of you say something that'll get one of you killed." David ordered. "Especially you." He remembered how she'd react to certain situations in the past. "I'll go check on her and I'll come get you when you've cooled down."

Everyone else just stood in silence.

"Regina!" He caught up to her outside and grabbed her arm.

She pulled away from him to get out of his grasp.

"Regina, please hold on." Charming said sincerely.

She stopped, but rolled her eyes away from his as he attempted to obtain eye contact with her. It was silent for a moment.

"How do you feel?" He immediately regretted those words, knowing that she was probably not feeling too great after all of that.

"How do I feel?" Her voice cracked. "Well, I don't know. My daughter just woke up from a coma she was put in by a madman, whom no one knows the name of because she won't tell anyone, that same daughter left the hospital in a rush trying to get away from me because I ruined her life, my true love is married, my son won't accept me as his mother, and my boyfriend just told me that he kissed my daughter. I feel great, David. Thanks for asking."

"There she is."

"What?" Regina was confused.

"I was wondering how long it'd take for your altar ego to return. I'm glad to see the sarcastic Evil Queen is back." He smirked.

"You're trying to make this funny. Our family is becoming even more and more dysfunctional by the minute and you're making jokes."

"No, Regina. I'm sorry." His smile returned to a frown. "I wasn't trying to be-"

Regina's face softened as David looked at the ground beneath him. She sighed guiltily as she gently lifted his chin with her slightly bent fore finger. He looked into her eyes.

"David, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just having a hard time right now-"

"When are you not?"

She lightly chuckled. "Hm. I know." She walked over to the wall of the building and held onto it behind her for support as she sat down on the cold snow covered asphalt. "I just need a minute." He stared at her until she looked up at him, demanding that he'd leave. He saw the look on her face and walked back to the hospital door, taking one last look at her before entering.

"How is sh-"

"She doesn't want to see you." David interrupted Victor after returning to the hospital waiting room.

"I don't care. I need to talk to her."

Victor tried to walk passed David, but Charming put his hands up in front of his own abdomen and used his body to block him from going that way.

"I can't let you do that." David said protectively, putting a hand on Victor's chest, close to his shoulder and very gently pushing him back.

"Look..." Victor said. "She's my responsibility now. You had your chance..." He thought for a moment and looked around the waiting room. "And..." He decided to add casually. "Since you got to do this to me...I'm getting even."

Victor punched David in the face, exactly the way Charming punched him when Emma and Snow went through the portal last year. As David reacted to the punch and his wife, daughter, and grandson quickly ran to him following the hit, Victor quickly escaped to the alley behind the hospital.

He saw Regina on his left, still sitting against the wall as the exit door closed, revealing her position to him.

"I told David that I wanted to be alone!" The tears were falling down her face when she yelled, angry that he was out there.

"Yeah, but I-I punched him to get him out of the way."

"There's something seriously wrong with you." She snapped nastily.

"Regina, I-"

"You what?!"

"I love you!"

"Yeah?" She asked doubtedly. She looked slightly to her left at the building in front of her, pretending Victor's legs were invisible as he stood at her feet.

"Yeah."

"You have an interesting way of showing it." She sniffled.

"I-" He paused. "Well..."

"What?"

"Well...So do you!" He shouted down at her.

"What?" She'd finally looked up at him.

"If David hadn't come along and remembered-"

She stood up, using the building behind her for support again. She wiped away her tears and said, "That was not my doing-"

"Really? Are you sure about that? Because it sure as hell looks like it."

"I was trying to forget him!" She yelled, confessing. She softened her voice. "I loved you. I didn't want to remember him at all. It hurt too much, and you were there for me the whole time I needed you. But then-"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know what happened. The spell wore off on him and it-"

"Made you love him again." Victor assumed, sadly.

"It made me remember how much I missed him." She corrected. "And I wanted him to get to know the baby, so I thought it would be better if I just let him come around every now and then. Do I still love him? Yes, of course I do. But does that mean I choose him over you? No. I love you and I have been trying to show you that for months."

"How?"

"By trusting you."

He thought for a moment.

"And I've been trying to show you, too!" He said angrily.

"By kissing my daughter?!" She grew angry again also.

He didn't answer.

"That's what I thought." She said angrily as she walked by him.

"Where are you going?!" He asked.

"To clear my head."

"But-"

"Look, I was crazy to trust you. I thought that you were with me because of who I am. The whole time we've been together, I was pregnant, and I never had doubts about myself. I thought that you were a guy that had finally chosen me for me, even if I wasn't having YOUR baby and we weren't sleeping together...but I guess I was wrong. There still is someone out there who would be chosen over me. There always is...I just never thought it'd be my own daughter."

She turned to leave, but she heard her phone ringing.

"Hello?" She said wiping away a tear, her voice hoarse.

Victor moved in closer from behind her, wondering what was being said on the other end of the phone.

"What? Why is she there?"

Victor stepped in front of her. She paused to listen.

"Alright. I'm on the way."

"What?" Victor said.

"Gold." She said after hanging up.

"What was he calling for?"

"Jasmine. She's at his shop."

"What? What is she doing there?"

"I have no idea, but I need to go."

"Shall I call the others?" Victor asked as he jogged to catch up to her when she quickly walked away.

"The others?"

"Charming? The Sheriff?"

"No. Why would you call them?"

"Probably because Jasmine is a victim of an attack and she could tell them who the suspect is. They could probably help!"

"I'm not so sure they can."

"Why not?"

"Because. Gold said that she's not telling him anything-"

"Well, yeah, I wouldn't tell that crazy imp anything either-"

"Victor, listen!" She interrupted seriously. "I'm not so sure she'll tell anyone, alright? She hasn't really had anyone to be there for her, no one to trust..." She stopped and looked at the road in front of her and said quietly, "...not even her own mother was there for her."

"What's the plan?" He asked.

"The plan is for you to go home now." She said, beginning to walk again.

"Regina-"

"No."

"No what? I'm coming with you."

"No." She said painfully. "I-"

"What?" He asked sincerely.

She shook her head. She felt at war with herself.

"I can't have you in the same room."

"I won't be in your way."

"Not me." She said softly. "Jasmine. I don't think it's a good idea for you two to be in the same place right now."

He thought about that and she began to walk away, but he followed anyway.

"Regina, I'm going with you and I'm going to help you stop this man. Whoever he is." Victor said.

Regina shook her head as she sped up her walking.

"Look." He stepped in front of her and stopped, making sure she couldn't continue. "I know how this might look, but you don't think I feel guilty about any of this?"

She rolled her eyes and walked around him. "No, I don't suppose you do."

"Just, listen!" He grabbed her hand from behind and she stopped. She hadn't felt that in a while. The contact made her shidder as butterflies grew in her stomach.

She turned around slowly to look at him.

"What?" She tried not to sound weak from his touch.

"I went to see her that night. I went to apologize and tell her that it was a mistake and that I loved you. She was hurt by it, but I didn't know what to do or say, so I left...like a coward. The next morning, I decided I'd go back to talk about it, but she was gone. I thought she had run away. I thought she went missing because of me...and I didn't know how to tell you, so I just let it go. But I should've said something, because it turned out that she was kidnapped, tortured, and ra-"

He looked down feeling ashamed. He was convinced that it was his fault.

"Look, Reggi." She rolled her eyes when he called her that. "I want us to work out. I want to be a part of Olivia's life and I want you to love me again. If that's even possible."

"It is possible." She slowly picked his chin up to make him look at her again. "The last few months have been some of the greatest of my life. When you decided that you'd become my 'stay at home doctor' after I almost lost Olivia, I thought it was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me. And when our hands first touched on the clipboard in the hospital, I felt my heart jump. I'd love for this to work out too, but I don't know if right now-"

"Please, Regina. I love you. I am so sorry that I kissed her, but I promise, it'll never happen again."

He kissed her hand and moved his eyes to look at her as his lips lingered and he smiled the way he did the night he stayed for dinner and pretended that his heart was ripped out when she rejected him. She tried to fight back a smile, but she lightly chuckled at the memory.

"Alright, peasant." She said with a full grin and he smiled back as they continued for Gold's shop.

*One Week Ago*

Jasmine leaned against the hotel room door after she let Victor in. He leaned against a dresser across from the bed and looked at her. Neither of them knew what to say. Victor crossed his arms and she walked over and slouched on the bed across from him.

"So...How-"

"Don't." She stopped him.

"Don't what?"

She just shook her head and breathed, looking at the ground.

"Jasmine, I apologize for what happened earlier today. I don't know what I was thinking. I-"

"Don't apologize. You were drunk. It-"

"I wasn't."

"What?"

"I wasn't drunk."

"Then what-"

"I don't know. I just know that I regret it and I didn't mean to-"

"You regret it?" She asked self-consciously, sitting up.

"That's not what I meant...I-"

"It's okay. I understand."

"Understand what?"

"That you regret kissing me because I'm not that attractive."

"No. That's not it at all."

"It's not?"

"No. Of course not."

She stood up, feeling better and she began to walk toward him slowly.

"I-Uh-Can I tell you the truth?" She asked as she met him at the dresser. "I don't know why, but I liked it."

"Liked what?" He asked nervously.

"The..."

"Kiss?"

"Yeah." She answered. "I don't know why, but I felt something I haven't felt before.

"What?"

"I don't know. I have only ever kissed one other boy before and that was a long time ago, back in our land, but...I didn't feel what I felt when-"

"Jasmine."

"Yeah?" She had moved so she was now leaning against the dresser as well, right next to him.

"This...it can't-"

She interrupted him with a kiss. It lasted a while and then he finally pushed her away.

"Jasmine, we can't."

She was now confused and tears welled up in her eyes again.

"You're only 16. This-"

"17."

"What?"

"I'm 17."

"Still...This can't-We can't be together."

"But I- I'm...I'm turning 18 soon."

"Jasmine, a few months ago, you could've said that to me and I would've changed my mind. But I'm in love with your mother. And...you're like a daughter to me. It just wouldn't be right-"

She took a step back from him.

"I-Uh-I should go." He said, resentfully.

She lightly nodded and let him walk passed her toward the door. He paused before leaving and looked back at her.

"Goodnight, Jasmine." He said gently, and he left, slowly closing the door behind him.

Jasmine sat on her bed after Victor left the hotel. She layed back and rested her head on the pillow behind her. She began to think of the boy back in her world. She turned over on her side, frustratingly, and fell asleep.

She woke up, shivering, to a loud sound when a strong wind blew about 3 hours later and she quickly sat up in her bed as she gasped. She looked around the room and realized a window was open and there was snow coming in. Looking at the floor under the window, she saw that the picture frame on her dresser and fallen. She slowly put her legs over the side of the bed and picked it up. Looking at it, she started to hate herself and she threw it, breaking the frame.

After a few moments of staring at it, she walked over to the window and closed it. Why was it even open? Then suddenly, she heard something else. She looked around the room once more. Finally, recognizing the sound as breathing, the teen slowly walked toward the door to leave and she realized it was coming from the closet. She quietly opened the door as slow as possible, holding her breath and hoping the door wouldn't squeak. As soon as it was successfully opened enough to slide her slim body through it, she got out and began to walk cautiously down the hallway.

She ran down the stairs and exited the hotel, realizing that she hadn't brought any shoes with her once her feet touched the cold ground outside.

She didn't know where to go. She could go to Regina's, she thought. But she didn't want to wake the baby so late. If she went to Snow White's, they might think it wierd, they didn't even know her. Plus, she wouldn't know what to say to them. Going to Victor's would be even worse and going to Gold's didn't sound like the right place either. She had to get somewhere safe.

She just continued to walk. She needed to get as far away from the hotel as she could. Was someone following her? Becoming paranoid, Jasmine looked frantically in every direction.

Suddenly, she heard a noise and she quickly turned around as she took in a deep breath. Once she saw nothing, she turned around again and just stood there, quietly listening. She closed her eyes, but opened them when she suddenly felt someone put their hand over her mouth from behind. She began to struggle as they shushed her.

"Did you really think I wouldn't find you?" They asked, gripping her tighter, suffocating her. There was a vicious chuckle from the voice. "I always find you." A tear escaped Jasmine's eye and she passed out from lack of air.


	14. Cast A Spell

*Present Day*

Victor and Regina entered the shop and she was surprised to see that Henry, Snow, Emma, and David were there as well.

"You called them?" She asked Victor, annoyed.

"No, I didn't."

"I did." Jasmine said as she slowly entered the front of the shop from the back office, followed by Gold and Belle. Her mother rolled her eyes. Regina didn't want to be in the same room with any of them, minus Henry, whom she missed dearly.

The former mayor shot a look to Mary Margaret and she could tell that there was a lot of tension in the room. Snow and David both stood on opposite sides of the room, Emma standing with her mother and Henry standing in the middle. It was probably due to the fact that they had just found out about the truth regarding Olivia's father. For some reason she thought it was funny and she chuckled as she rolled her eyes away from her stepdaughter.

"Do you have something you wanna say to me, Regina?" Mary Margaret asked, noticing the look she had just received.

"No, no. Not at all." She said, somewhat amused.

"You should not be mad at me!" Snow said, inching closer to Regina from behind.

Regina noticed the woman had moved and she turned around, getting in her face.

"Who said I was mad?" Regina asked subtly with a calm voice. "And even if I was, I'd do more than give you nasty looks."

"Regina." Victor and David said together.

"Mom." Henry began.

"You're just upset that I have a baby with your husband. Well, you're gonna have to get over it, because what's done is done. Olivia is his and there's nothing you can do about it." Regina said, ignoring the others.

"How did I not see it?" Emma whispered to herself.

"You did...you just don't remember." Jasmine said.

"What?"

"Regina...I think it's time." David said.

"Time for what?" Mary Margaret asked, on the verge of tears.

"Regina?" David repeated.

"I haven't used magic, since-"

"I know, but I think you need to."

She slowly nodded.

Regina lifted her hand and Emma stepped in front of Henry.

"It's okay, Emma. She's not going to hurt anyone." David reassured as he put his hand on her shoulder.

Suddenly, everyone quickly closed their eyes and shook their heads, remembering what had happened before Regina took away their memories.

"David?" Mary Margaret turned around to look at him. "I remember."

"So do I." Emma said. She looked at Regina. "I'm sorry."

"What happened?" Henry asked. "What's going on here?"

"I cast a spell to-"

"To save everyone." David smiled.

"I made sure everyone forgot about David and I so the town wasn't destroyed."

"David? You knew about this?" Snow asked.

"Of course not. She erased my memories too and the spell was somehow broken the night Olivia was born."

"And no one knows how this spell was broken?"

Regina jumped in. "No, we-"

Jasmine cleared her throat and everyone turned to look at her.

"Well..."

*Olivia's Birthday*

"Regina?"

"Yes, Jasmine?" Regina answered as she stood in the kitchen, making some breakfast.

"What does it feel like?"

"What does what feel like?"

"Ummm...L-Love?"

Regina suddenly stopped stirring the apple pancake mix and turned around. It was only when she moved fast that she realized how heavy her stomach truly was when she was pregnant.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean...how does it feel to have someone love you...back?"

"Is this about a boy?"

"No...I mean-I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"Well...there was one boy, back in my land, in Agrabah." She thought of those days back home. "I actually found him quite annoying. But that's not what I mean."

"What DO you mean?"

"Well, I just-"

Regina set the bowl of pancake mix on the counter behind her and she put her hands on the island in front of her, looking at Jasmine.

"Are you keeping the baby?" Jasmine finally asked.

"I am."

"Do you love her?"

"Of course I do." She smiled "Why would you ask tha-?" She stopped herself from finishing and she stood up straight, her smile turning into a look of shame and regret.

Jasmine looked at the floor and closed her eyes.

"Just wondering." She said sadly and she turned her stool straight and away from Regina so she was facing the counter again.

"Jasmine, I-"

"I heard lots of stories back home."

"Like?"

"Well, Cora went through a lot to get you to the highest postition she could. You went through a lot to try and bring Daniel back and you've gone through a lot to keep this baby. You even went through a lot to try and stay with David and to keep Henry. You went through so much that you even turned to the dark side."

She lifted her head and looked at Regina, who was afraid to hear the rest.

"I-"

"I wasn't included in any of those stories."

"Jasmine-"

"I just wanted to know what it was like to have someone else fight for you like you fought for Henry, David, and this baby. And the way Cora did for you." She stood up from her stool and quickly left the house, Regina yelling her name.

Jasmine stood on the porch for a while after slamming the front door to the former mayor's house. She took a deep breath with her eyes closed, her hand still on the door knob behind her, and she began to walk. She walked with her arms across her chest, as if she were hugging herself.

She didn't understand her random outburst, but she did mean every word of it. It was true...she was the only person in Regina's life who was not important enough to search for. She knew that Regina never wanted a child with the genie, so she tried for 3 months in Storybrooke to stay far away from Regina. She knew that she'd just get in the way and Regina would be upset with Jasmine for finding her...No...For being alive.

But when she had found out about another baby that her mother was bringing into the world, Jasmine felt drawn to it somehow. She had to at least meet her mother once and see the baby. That would've been enough for her. But once she saw her pregnant mother, she couldn't stay away.

Once she finally reached her destination, she ignored the sign on the door and walked in. As soon as she closed the door, she turned around, leaning against it. Looking around, she saw many things and memories of life before Storybrooke.

She broke. Her hands were over her face and she slowly slid down the door until she was hugging her knees to her chest and she rested her forehead on her knees to cry.

After a few minutes went by, she hit her head back against the door in frustration.

"Careful, dearie." Rumpelstiltskin said as he entered the shop area from his office in the back. "Wouldn't want to get a headache, now would you?"

She just looked at him.

"Unless you've already got one." He said more to himself than to her, realizing the state she was in. "What's the matter, dearie? Not quite working out as planned?"

She glared at him as her tears stopped and she was now angry with herself and annoyed at his remarks.

"I didn't think-"

"That you'd be able to handle it? I told you that you couldn't."

"It's not that. I just didn't think she actually hated me."

"No one said she did."

"I just wish-"

"Now, now, dearie. Be careful what you wish for. We both know how that turns out."

"I know. And I don't care."

"Alright. Just remember, when the time comes, tell them that your father's the one who gave you the wishful powers, not I."

"Oh, I know." She said smiling. "I wish that David's memories would come back."

"Hmmm...Not what I was expecting." Gold said, not thinking that THAT was what she would wish for at all.

Jasmine closed her eyes and a gust of wind, purple in color, came from her chest and traveled throughout the town. Gold watched it turn red, knowing that it meant her wish came true, while thinking to himself that she had one of the most interesting powers. Then, he saw her smile the way her mother did when she would have an idea.

A/N: Hey readers! Thanks so much for your support! This was one of my favorite chapters and I hope you enjoyed it as well. I just loved the idea of Jasmine having magic, but because her father was a genie, I thought it'd be cool if her powers were genie-related. Please leave your thoughts in the Review section! Love love love you all! MWAH!


	15. Love, Comfort, Protection, And Granny's

A/N: Hey readers! This chapter's quite long, but I hope you like it. No spoilers, lol. But I will say that something a little shocking will happen in this chapter. Love you! Mwah!

*Present Day*

"So, you mean to tell me, you DO have magic...and YOU'RE the one who broke David's memory spell?" Regina asked after Jasmine told the story of what happened that day.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I thought that if you had David back...the town would destroy itself again, but-"

"You what?!"

"I was angry, okay!?"

"You WANTED the town to destroy itself?" Mary Margaret asked.

Jasmine looked at her half-stepsister and said nothing.

"And what was your plan for saving YOURSELF?" Emma asked.

"I wasn't going to save myself. If the town would be destroyed, it would take me down with it. Just like I wanted it to!"

Regina gasped. "Jasmine." She said softly, almost in a whisper.

"What!?" Jasmine said angrily.

The woman just looked at her daughter sadly.

"One thing...Why DIDN'T the town go under some mass destruction?" Victor asked.

"It was because of you." Jasmine answered, calmly.

"Me?"

"Yes. Regina was torn between you and David...and David stayed with Snow, so the product of the Dark Curse was never destroyed."

There was a moment of silence as Victor and Regina looked at eachother and Mary Margaret made eye contact with David.

"Jasmine..." Regina said softly. She turned back to look at her daughter and began to slowly walk toward her. "You can't always protect yourself. After what happened, you should talk to someone. Just to have a person there for you could help." She moved in closer and lifted her arms to gently comfort the tired girl, but she moved back avoiding the contact.

"No."

"It's okay to be scared after what happened."

"I'm not scared."

"You may think that, but I know different. I was there and sitting in that room alone for all those years tore me apart. I would be a totally different person today if I had someone to comfort me...or had just LET someone else be there for me." She looked at Rumple who lifted his head a little bit in understanding when he realized that she had her own regrets for not letting him be that person back home.

"I'm fine." The teen felt weak and pathetic as she protested softer than she wanted to.

"No, baby. You're not."

"I am. I can handle it."

"It's alright to be vulnerable sometimes."

"Showing vulnerability is a sign of weakness." She retorted angrily.

"Even the strongest people need a shoulder to cry on. So go ahead...Cry."

Jasmine began to very slowly shake her head as she tightly held her lips together attempting to fight back the tears. Regina lightly grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in for a hug, causing the tears to finally fall from hurt, innocent, brown eyes.

Victor watched Regina hold onto her sobbing daughter with everyone else before he slowly walked over and hugged the both of them, followed by Henry. Soon, everyone was huddled around Jasmine in a group hug, Belle and Rumple, the last two to join. And for the first time, she felt protection from others. To her, it seemed too good to be true. She was surprised that she finally felt something that she had never ever felt in her life. Warmth in her heart. For the longest time, her heart was cold and empty and it brought her tears of joy.

After a few moments, they finally broke the hug and Regina wiped away her daughter's tears as well as her own.

"Hi. I'm Henry." The young boy said to his newly found sister.

She smiled and giggled a little bit. "I know. I'm Jasmine."

He giggled too. "I know." They all laughed.

"Mom?" Henry said, unsure if he should ask the next question.

"Yes, dear?"

"Can I meet Olivia now?"

"Of course you can."

"I was wondering if...I could as well? You know, now that we have our memories back?" Snow asked with her eyes closed, hoping she and David would say yes.

Regina looked at David and he read her mind. He slowly turned to look at his wife and said yes.

Regina lightly smiled. "She's at Granny's. What do you say we all go and have dinner?"

They walked to Granny's from Gold's Shop and Jasmine tried forgetting about what happened to her. Henry was hyper and skipped down the street trying to get others to play "I Spy" with him. Everyone talked and it was as if all of their problems were at ease. David walked with Henry in the front, casually looking back at Regina who walked with Jasmine and Victor. Snow and Emma walked in the back talking about new apartments they were looking at for Henry and the savior.

Things were not as wonderful for long at Granny's, though. Henry ran inside, very hungry and excited and he pulled Jasmine by the hand behind him. She smiled as he dragged her along through the front door. He brought her to his favorite booth and urged the others to 'hurry up and sit down.' Everyone laughed at his enthusiasm.

"Ruby?" Snow yelled to the waitress behind the counter.

"Yes?" The brunette replied.

"Is Granny in the office with the baby?"

"I think so. I'll go check." The joyful girl left and returned within a few seconds with her grandmother who carried the infant.

Regina stood up excitedly and she looked around checking to see if anyone else noticed that she practically jumped out of her seat. It turned out she wasn't the only one who noticed. Not only did someone else notice that she had jumped up so fast, but that other person also stood up just as fast, if not faster.

She cleared her throat and turned from David who stood only a few inches from her and she walked over to Granny to take the baby from her arms. David walked beside her to see their baby and then he followed her back to the booth, pulling up another chair for her to sit in at the end of the table. But before she sat down, she turned to look at Olivia's father.

"Would you like to take her?"

"Well, I don't think-"

"Go ahead, David." Snow allowed, smiling.

He lightly nodded and took her. His look of unsureness immediately vanished into a large smile that could've brightened up the whole diner the second he held his daughter.

Regina smiled at the both of them and then sat down in the booth, gesturing for him to sit in the chair he pulled up for her. He sat down and things were good for a bit, until some tension began between Victor and David. Jasmine noticed the jealousy stewing within the looks they both gave eachother after Regina would talk to the other one.

Henry asked to hold Olivia for awhile after they ate and he and Jasmine played 'Peek-A-Boo' with her for a while as the adults, minus David, stood and lingered around the diner talking to eachother. The shepherd stayed at the table and sat across from them, smiling at his baby girl. These were the moments he never got to have with Emma.

After a few minutes of 'Peek-A-Boo,' Jasmine looked up to her mother at the counter talking to Victor. Her smile faded when she realized that it looked like they were fighting. Victor shot his eyes to the young girl once and she quickly looked away as if she saw nothing. She then looked over to Emma and Snow. Emma was talking to her mother who seemed to not be listening while she kept her eye on the back of David's head. Jasmine looked back to Henry and the baby when Emma hit Mary Margaret on the arm, forcing her to pay attention to her and ordering her to stop looking at David.

"She was looking at me, wasn't she?"

"Huh?" Jasmine looked up at David, pretending not to hear what he said.

"Snow. She was looking at me, wasn't she?"

Jasmine didn't answer, but he knew the answer by the look on her face when she looked away from him and back at the baby once more.

"Maybe I should go talk to her." He thought out loud.

All of a sudden, they were startled by a shout from Regina.

"Then go! Just leave!"

"Maybe I will!"

Jasmine jumped and David saw the fear in her face. He reached across the table and put his hand on hers. She looked into his eyes and he gave her a light, sympathetic smile. She barely smiled back before pulling her hand away.

"I've never seen them fight before." She lied. She had definitely seen them fight before. David could see that she was trying to pretend that THAT was the reason she suddenly became jumpy, but he knew the real reason. She was still shaken up about the attack.

"Fine!" Regina yelled and she turned away from Victor, which told him that he should actually leave.

"Fine." He said sadly.

"Fine..." Regina almost whispered. She looked at the ground facing away from the door so she wouldn't have to watch him leave and Jasmine closed her eyes and quickly stood up to follow Victor and everyone's eyes (besides Regina's) followed her. She wanted to stop him from leaving once again like he did at the hospital the day he learned Olivia's middle name.

"Victor, wai-"

Just before he reached the door, he turned around to look at her and she just stared behind him. The door was opened and a new customer walked in, causing Jasmine to stop midsentence.

"Jasmine? What is it?" Victor asked, unaware of the door opening behind him. He saw the stunned look on her face.

Regina heard Victor ask what was wrong and she turned around to realize what Jasmine saw behind Victor. She looked at the door with the same curiosity as everyone else in the diner did. Victor finally turned around.

"Aladdin?" Jasmine asked quietly from behind Victor. She slowly stepped in front of the doctor, finally becoming visible to the dark haired young man.

"Jasmine?" The boy asked before slowly walking toward her.

Regina began to move closer to the front of the diner and soon enough, she was directly behind Jasmine and right next to Victor.

"I-I thought you were dead." Aladdin said.

"I didn't know that you were here. I thought Agrabah wasn't touched by the Dark Curse." Jasmine replied.

"It wasn't. I have traveled through many lands since you disappeared. I just came from Neverland. I was forced into becoming a Lost Boy."

She gasped, having been to Neverland herself. "How did you escape?"

"I met a friend and he helped me leave. But that night...How did you-"

"My flying carpet. It got me out just before-" She stopped when he touched the cut on her lip. "-but he found me here."

He looked at her lip and then back into her eyes before letting out a loud breath of relief and pulling her in for an extremely awkward hug. Surprised and confused, she let her arms hang for a few seconds before hugging him back. They never really liked each other, even though they had both saved each other a few times. But they each claimed that it was out of remorse or pity. Or it was often due to a "You owe me" so the other one would HAVE to help during their next encounter. This hug was very different for the both of them.

Soon, it was interrupted by Regina, who had made her way right behind Jasmine without their knowledge. She touched her daughter's back gently.

"Hello. I'm Regina."

Aladdin stepped back from the hug and looked at the woman who introduced herself.

"I found her." Jasmine said to him almost in a whisper.

"Your mother?" Aladdin asked. Jasmine nodded and he smiled at the woman standing by her. "Wow!"

"I know." She smiled at her mother. "Regina, this is Aladdin. We've...well, we go way back...so to speak."

Regina nodded and smiled back. "I see." She gave Jasmine a motherly look that Jasmine didn't understand, due to the fact that she's never had a mother.

"What?" She finally asked, giggling a little bit.

"Nothing, nothing." Regina said, putting her hands up in defense and turning from Jasmine after winking at her.

"Wha-" Jasmine scoffed and ignored her, still smiling. She looked back at Aladdin and opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off when she heard something behind her.

"Henry!" Both Emma and Regina scolded, following in a laugh.

Jasmine quickly turned her head to see her adoptive half brother change the look on his face to a big 'You-Saw-Nothing' Smile so fast that she really saw nothing. Aladdin laughed being the only other person to see the kissy face he was making at her behind her back.

"Sorry." Henry laughed. He stood and handed the baby, who had fallen asleep, to David. Then he walked up to Aladdin and put his hand out. "I'm Henry. Jasmine's brother." He smiled and Aladdin shook his hand.

"And I'm Emma, his mother."

"I'm also his mother." Regina jumped in.

"And I'm Emma's mother, Snow."

"And I'm David. Snow's husband and Emma's father. I'm also-"

"Alright, alright. Let's not overwhelm the boy."

"And who are you?" Aladdin asked.

"I'm Victor." The reprimanding man said. "Related to no one here."

Both Jasmine and Aladdin laughed as Regina lightly chuckled. Victor was surprised that she laughed at him after their fight. He gently grabbed her hand from behind and her smile faded as she moved her hand away, causing his smile to fade as well.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Aladdin." Victor walked passed them and just before he reached the door, Regina turned around once again so she didn't watch him leave.

She flinched at the sound of the door closing and she slowly looked up from the ground. The first thing she saw was David holding their daughter. She gently smiled at him and walked over to him to take the sleeping baby from him.

"Thank you, David." She said lovingly.

"Of course." He said back, in the same way.

The former mayor took Olivia's blanket from the booth. "Good night, everyone." She said as if she were apologizing while holding the door open.

"Good night, Regina." Jasmine said sadly.

The woman left with the baby, weakly smiling at Jasmine and Aladdin before closing the door behind her.

Jasmine turned away, closed her eyes, and sighed depressingly before sitting back down in their booth, putting her face in her hands. Soon enough, her arms were crossed, resting on the table and her head rested on them, face down.

"What can I get for you?" Granny asked Aladdin, considering Red was too overwhelmed with what she just saw and she decided to ask Emma and Mary Margaret tons of questions about what was going on.

"I don't know." He answered.

"You know we're closing soon, right? We usually close at eight, but I was lenient with these folks."

"That's fine...I don't really know what I want anyways."

"Hm." She thought it was odd for him to walk into a diner so late in the first place, and then end up not ordering anything anyways. "Alright." She continued to clean the tables around them and he checked the clock. It was nearly ten o'clock and he yawned before slowly walking over to the booth.

"Jasmine, I think we should leave. It's late and the diner's closing."

She didn't respond, so he gently turned her head to the side and moved the hair out of her face to find out that she had fallen asleep, just like her tired baby sister. He looked up at David who slowly stood up and Aladdin moved to the side. David quietly picked her up.

"Do you know where her room is?" He whispered to Ruby, slowly walking over to her.

She nodded and led him and Aladdin to her room in Granny's Motel, as Emma, Henry, and Snow followed.

"Right here." Ruby whispered, taking the skeleton key from her pocket and opening the door for David who turned sideways to carefully walk through the door frame, hoping that she wouldn't touch any of the sides, waking her.

Aladdin followed him in and moved the comforter halfway off the bed for him to lay her on the sheets underneath it, gently putting her head on the pillow. Then he and David slowly pulled the covers back over her. Aladdin turned to leave while David stayed back a few more minutes and looked at her. He saw the cuts and bruises on her face, reminding him of the times he would protect Regina back in the Enchanted Forest. He put his hand on her forehead and pushed her stray hairs back out of her face.

"David." Snow whispered. He looked up and saw everyone standing in the doorway watching him. "Are you coming?"

"Yeah." He began to leave, but he stopped in the hallway when they were almost to the door that led back to the diner. "Wait."

"What?" Ruby asked.

"I think someone should stay with her."

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked.

"This is her first night out of the hospital. I don't think it's such a good idea to leave her alone."

"Who's gonna stay with her?" Snow asked.

Everyone besides Emma looked at Aladdin.

"Seriously?" She said. "We're gonna leave it up to the teenager to protect the teenager? No. David. I think you should stay."

"Why me?"

"Yes. Why him?" Snow asked.

"Well, Henry's not gonna be much of a threat."

"Why can't you?" Her mother asked.

"Well, I've got the night shift at the sheriff's station."

"That's true."

"Why can't David take the night shift?" Red asked.

"He had it last night and he's been up for almost 36 hours. He should get some sleep."

"Ruby can turn into a wolf." Henry suggested.

"I don't think that's the best idea, kid."

"Why not, Emma?"

"Well, Henry. I haven't really got the hang of my powers here yet and if I turn once, it may be difficult to get me to turn back." The werewolf answered.

"Looks like it's gonna be you." Aladdin said to David, who looked at Snow.

"Okay." He said.

"I'll stay, too." Aladdin said. "I just arrived in this town, so I don't really have any place to stay anyway. And I'm a pretty light sleeper, so if anything happens, I'll be able to hear it."

"Alright."

The others left and Ruby led David and Aladdin back to the room with the key to let them in. Soon, they were settled in the chairs provided in the room and they slept, waiting for anything to happen.


	16. Paladin

A/N: I know that a lot of this seems to be centered around Jasmine so far, but I promise that that'll all change soon! Also, this will eventually make its way back to an EvilCharming fic. Just please be patient with me. I understand not a lot of people have stuck around with this story because of certain things they don't agree with, but please just trust in me like you do the actual show writers! Love you all! Enjoy! Mwah!

Aladdin jumped when he woke the next morning at a noise coming from the bathroom door. He slowly walked over to it and readied himself for anything. He watched the doorknob turn and it opened abruptly, causing him to scream, which resulted in a scream from a wet Jasmine drying her hair with a towel and a new outfit on.

Their screams woke David up who grabbed his sword and stood immediately.

"Easy." Aladdin said to David, who put the sword back down when he realized what had happened.

"Jeez! What do you think you're doing?!" Jasmine shouted at him.

"I thought that someone was hiding in the bathroom to come out and attack you in your sleep."

"Really?" She said, giving him a look telling him that he was an idiot. "Look at the bed." He turned and looked at it, understanding where she was coming from. "When you saw that my bed was empty you didn't think that just maybe it could've been me who was in here?"

"Well, I-I didn't look at the bed."

"Idiotic mistake number two."

"What was number one?"

"Staying here last night."

David began to talk. "We were making sure noth-" She quickly put her hand up to him, gesturing for him to stop talking as she kept her eyes on Aladdin.

"I don't need your pity." She said as she put her hand down to her side again. David had finally seen the 'Regina' in her.

"Who's brilliant idea was it for you two to stay anyway?"

"Mine." David said.

"And how did I even get in here?"

Aladdin looked at David and Jasmine followed his eyes. For the first time that whole morning, she looked at David. She automatically felt guilty for the way she treated him 'til this moment.

"Well, thank you." She said nicely. "I think?" She turned to go back into the bathroom and put the towel back on its rack while David and Aladdin exchanged awkward looks.

"For some reason, I knew she'd react that way."

"What way?" David asked.

"All mad for someone trying to help her. Ever since I've known her she does that. She's one of the most stubborn, independent females I've ever met."

David let out a soft chuckle. "Huh. Well...I guess you've never met her mother."

They both laughed a little. True, Aladdin had never met Regina before, but he had heard stories about her and he knew just how "stubborn" the Evil Queen could be.

"What's so funny?" Jasmine asked when she reentered.

Aladdin cleared his throat and David rubbed the back of his neck, trying to get rid of the smile on his face.

"Nothing. Just...nonsense." David said and Aladdin chuckled one more time, causing Jasmine to squint at him and then back to David, who was now smiling again.

She decided to ignore it and began to make her bed as she talked. "Well, thanks again for...whatever you two did last night, but I think you can leave now."

"Leave? Why?" Aladdin asked and she stopped working on the bed to look at him. Before she had time to answer, David's phone rang and Jasmine returned to making the bed. Aladdin went to the bathroom and David was off the phone within seconds after saying just a few words. "Hello.", "Okay, sounds good.", and "Goodbye."

When he hung up he began to help Jasmine with the last of the covers. After they finished, she sat on the edge of the bed and he sat in the chair he slept in the night before. The silence between them grew tense and it seemed as though both of them would burst with the questions that ran in their heads.

"Who was that?" Jasmine finally broke the silence, referring to the phone call.

"Snow. She wants to meet in the diner for breakfast. You're welcome to come if you'd like."

"I don't know if that'd be such a good idea."

"Why not?"

She didn't want to answer with the truth. The truth was that she wasn't sure if she liked him or not. She grew close to Victor in the times they spent with Regina and other than the Sultan back home, whom she missed dearly, Victor was the closest thing to a father. She saw David as a threat to the small family they formed while he was gone and she regretted breaking the memory spell on him.

"Hey. Food sounds good to me." Aladdin said, coming out of the bathroom.

Jasmine rolled her eyes. "He didn't invite you, Ali Ababwa!" She mocked him.

He held back a smile, trying to make an angry face and pointed at her. "Don't call me that." He never really liked the ridiculous name given to him by his genie when they first met. She could tell that he didn't actually care when she said it, though, so she continued to call him that anyways.

"I was actually thinking of going to the sheriff's station to see if Emma wanted to join as well. You're welcome to come, too." David said to Aladdin, causing Jasmine to close her eyes and let out a loud sigh. "You don't have to come if you don't want to." He reassured her that it wasn't mandatory.

"I'd rather not." She said with sass.

"Oh, come on. Don't be like that." Aladdin said boldly. "I think it's time for you to meet more people. Come have breakfast. Hell, go out and party." He tried imitating a strange dance move at the side of the bed and she looked at him through the corner of her eye with her arms crossed.

"Uh. No." She said ridiculously.

"Fine. We'll go without you." He shrugged his shoulders and David stood up, meeting him at the door.

"Good!" She exclaimed. "Bye." She waved at him annoyingly and turned her head the other way to look out the window as he gave her the same annoyed look just before mocking her from behind her back and leaving.

David held onto the door and looked at her. "You're still welcome to come if you change your mind."

She turned to look at him and weakly smiled. He smiled back and she returned to looking at the clouds out the window. It took him a while to realize that he was still looking at her empathetically before closing the door behind him, feeling unsure of leaving her there.

Time passed and when they arrived back to Granny's, for some reason, David couldn't get Jasmine off his mind. He assumed it was a guilty conscience, but after a few minutes of waiting for Snow to arrive with Henry, he thought that he'd call Regina to ask her to go check on the young girl. Suddenly, he realized something...he left his phone in Jasmine's room. He told Emma and Aladdin that he'd be right back and they continued their chat about traveling through different worlds.

"Hello? Jasmine?" He knocked on the door. There was no answer. "Are you still in there?" He waited, then knocked again. "I think I left my phone here. Jasmine?"

He decided that she had probably left, probably to go see her mother, so he turned to go ask Ruby or Granny for a room key to get in.

When he returned with one of the keys to Room 7, he was expecting to either walk in and see an empty room, walk in and see Jasmine taking a nap (he thought that maybe she was still tired from all of the stuff that's been happening), or he expected to see her sitting on the bed awake and maybe she was just ignoring him when he knocked on the door.

When he first entered the room, he turned to see his phone on the arm of the chair he was sitting in before he left and he walked over to it and grabbed it. The first thing he did was check to see if he had any messages or missed calls. There was one missed call from Mary Margaret and two text messages from Leroy, asking him if he knew how to get a girl back who was unfortunately an off-limited fairy.

He chuckled at the dwarf's message and pressed the end button, knowing he'd see Grumpy in the diner. He'd be having coffee like he did every morning anyway and he could just talk to him there, face-to-face.

Just as he put the phone in his pocket, he heard something coming from the open bathroom door. He leisurely walked toward the bathroom entrance and slowly poked his head in. He thankfully saw nothing suspicious, just the very gentle running of the water from the sink that was not turned off all the way. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and turned it off before turning to leave.

Before walking toward the door, he noticed that there was a small picture without a frame and a pair of scissors on the nightstand on the opposite side of the bed. Curious about it, he walked around the bed and picked it up. Regina, about a few months pregnant, looked very happy with a smiling Victor in the photo that looked like it was taken on the shore at the small beach of Storybrooke, Maine.

David could tell that about a third of the picture was missing by the rough edge of the picture, showing that it had been cut out. He looked back at the nightstand but didn't see the other part of the picture there. He opened the first drawer, hoping that it might be in there and he checked the others when it wasn't.

He gave up the search and placed the picture back on the nightstand, closing the third drawer. When he shut it, the handle on the second drawer fell to the ground, resulting in an annoyed sigh from David.

"Of course." He bent down to grab the missing piece and attempted to fit it back onto its puzzle. Unfortunately, the drawer handle would not stay on the drawer, so he was slowly beginning to give up.

"You can just leave it."

He jumped at the quiet, startling voice that came from behind him. Turning around to see Jasmine sitting under the window with her knees to her chest staring at him, David put his hand on his stomach, when he realized who it was.

He sighed. "Oh. It's just you."

"Yep...just me." She emphasized the word 'just', looking back down at the small morsel in her hands.

"Are you okay?" He asked her while setting the broken handle on top of the nightstand next to the photo and the lamp. He saw that she must've been crying before he arrived.

"Me? You're asking ME if I'm okay? Hah! I'm just fine." She put the same emphasis on the word 'just' as she did the first time.

He stood there staring at her, trying to find the right thing to say. It was silent for what seemed like forever. He looked at her as she looked down at whatever was in her hands and he saw the fear and hurt in her face. He slowly moved closer to her and he gently put a hand on one of her knees, causing her body to tense up and look at his hand there, in horror. He immediately moved it as he saw through her eyes, the memories haunting her.

"I'm not gonna hurt you." He tried to comfort her. "Is it okay if I sit?" He waited for an answer. "Right here?" He pointed to the spot on the floor next to her and she thought about it before slowly nodding.

He moved to the spot and they sat in silence for a few seconds, while glancing at the side of the bed. He had his hands folded in his lap in front of him and his legs straight out while she kept her knees up to her chest.

David finally found the courage to say what he'd been thinking ever since she left the hospital. He turned his head toward her. "Wh-Who did this to you?" When she didn't answer he changed the question. "Do you know this man?" She slowly nodded. "Is this the first time he's done this to you?" She slowly nodded again, still looking ahead.

Then he looked back at the bed. "I remember when your mother first told me about the king. When she told me, it wasn't the first time he did it to her and she was still just as scared as you are now. I've seen her sometimes go back to that place, mostly when she was sleeping, and it breaks my heart. But I know that the second I knew, if I had just been able to stop it from happening again or if it was stopped after the first time he'd done it, things would be different now."

He stopped what he was saying and looked back at her for a moment. Finally, she turned to look up at him as well. They looked into each other's eyes for a bit before he finally finished what he was going to say. "I'm not going to let him do this to you again...Ever again!" He gently reached for one of her hands and tears began to find their way into her soft, small orbs.

"And neither is your mother."

Right at hearing those last five words, she broke and began to cry again, leaning into David's side as he put his arms around her and just let her sob as he held her. This was the first time Jasmine felt the connection between the two of them. She finally trusted David because she saw the truth in his eyes and she knew that he'd protect her. She couldn't comprehend it, but she felt safe...so safe in his arms at this moment.

She had finally found her guardian.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed this update. I really wanted to show how Jasmine and Aladdin's relationship has been like the whole time they've known each other so I put in the arguing and eye rolling. With the ending of this chapter, I just really wanted something that would lead Jasmine into trusting David, because I didn't want her to dislike him for too long. This chapter is called "Paladin" because it's another word for hero or guardian and I liked the idea of David being Jasmine's 'paladin'! Go ahead and leave lots of reviews, I'd love to hear your opinions on this chapter.


	17. Just Breathe

A/N: Hello again, readers! :D I know I've been updating really quickly lately...Don't mean to overwhelm you. Haha. But I write about ten chapters ahead and I get so excited...especially for the next two chapters...So just give me the word in the Reviews after this chapter and I'll post them ASAP! Probably together...based on what you say! Love you all so much! Xoxoxo!

"Hey. Where have you two been?" Snow White asked when David and Jasmine entered the diner from the back Motel door.

"Just...Had to find my phone." David replied.

"You were in there for quite a while." Emma said.

"It took quite a while to find it." His daughter gave him a look telling him that she didn't believe him.

"It's alright. Just...don't worry about it." He tried reassuring them when Jasmine looked at him as if she were begging him not to tell them how he found her.

"Alright." Emma pretended to forget all about it.

"Glad you decided to join us." Snow smiled at Jasmine. "Aladdin told us you didn't want to."

"Well, I changed my mind." She answered softly.

"Wonder what encouraged that." Mary Margaret smiled at David.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked.

"Nothing. I just know how persuasive you can be at times...like last night for example."

"Last night?"

"Yeah. You persuaded us that someone should stay and protect her."

David looked at the young girl and she quickly averted her eyes away from him and towards the floor.

After a long awkward silence, Emma decided that they change the subject. "Well, why don't we all sit and order something?"

"I agree." David said, gesturing for Jasmine to slide into the booth next to Henry.

He pulled up a chair at the end of the table for himself and Snow sat in the booth next to Emma on the opposite side of Henry and Jasmine.

What an overwhelming couple of days it's been. 'Just breathe.' He thought as he sat and tried to relax.

"Hello?" Regina answered the phone when she woke up that morning.

"Where is she?" The voice on the other end asked.

"What? Who is this?" She sat up.

"Tell me where your daughter is."

Suddenly, Olivia began to scream from her crib in the other room. As fast as possible, Regina tore the blankets off herself and ran to the nursery and picked up her crying baby as she looked around the room for an intruder. But there was no one. She put the phone back up to her ear.

"What do you want?"

"Your daughter."

"Why?"

There was a long pause on the other end of the phone.

"Who is this?"

"It doesn't matter, Your Majesty. Just tell me where Jasmine is and no one will get hurt."

"Why don't I believe you?" Regina said, nastily.

"Look, you meet me on the docks tomorrow with her, or your baby will suffer the consequences."

"What consequences?" She heard the click of the phone being hung up on the other end and Olivia continued her screaming.

"Shhh...It's okay." She bounced trying to comfort her daughter, but it didn't seem to work. Regina remembered when she had this issue with Henry when she first had him. It was as if Olivia knew that something was wrong. 'Til suddenly, she stopped and there were no more tears. Just as she stopped, the phone rang once more.

"Hello?" The tired mother answered.

"Regina? It's Jasmine."

"What is it? What's wrong?" She thought of the previous phone call.

"Nothing. I was just wondering if you wanted to join me for breakfast at Granny's? Why? Did something happen?"

Regina didn't want to worry her. "No, no. I was just making sure that you were safe."

"I'm okay. Will you come?"

"Sure. I'd love to."

"Tell her I said 'please.'" Regina could hear Henry in the background.

"Is that Henry?" She couldn't help but smile.

"Yes. David's here too with Emma and Snow." Her smile grew when she heard that David would be there. "I was gonna call Victor, too. But I wasn't sure how you felt after last ni-"

"It's okay. Ummm...I could use a day away from him. I'll be there soon."

"Okay. See ya!"

"Wait! Jas-" It was too late, she had already hung up and she immediately regretted hesitating to say something.

She sighed with a smile and looked down at the baby in her arms.

"I'm gonna have gray hair soon, Olivia."

The girl just looked up at her mother and slightly curled her baby lips into a grin.

"You think it's funny, don't you?"

Olivia rubbed her eyes and Regina took that as a 'yes.'

Then her mother's smile faded. "What are we gonna do about your sister?" She was shocked to see that Olivia seemed to understand what she was saying when she talked about Jasmine and she sighed, scared for what would happen tomorrow.

"Guess we'd better get changed, huh?"

She took one last look at the baby in her arms as Olivia smiled up at her mother.

Regina sighed. "Just breathe." She told herself.

To everyone's surprise, including Regina's, David stood from the booth immediately when she opened the door and entered from the dull weather outside as it continued to rain. She had her hood up and she had two blankets over the baby carrier that she held in one hand, regretting the fact that she did not own an umbrella. He looked around until everyone in the diner returned to their conversations.

"Here." Olivia's father immediately walked over and took the carrier away so her mother could dry off. She put her hood down and David suddenly stopped what he was doing and gazed down at her wet figure, focusing mostly on the raindrops that dripped off of her dark lashes when she blinked. Looking down at the floor, the woman didn't even notice how she was being looked at by the man she used to call her own.

"Hey, Mom." David slightly jumped and turned around as she finally took her jacket off. "I saved a seat for you." Henry called out and his mother looked over to him, stunned and grateful.

"I'll take that." David said and she handed him her coat before heading over to the booth where they had added a table and four more chairs for more space. Her son pointed to the chair next to him. Charming hung the wet jacket in the back and headed back over to sit at the table.

Jasmine sat on the inside next to Henry on the bench and the former mayor sat at the added table beside them. Aladdin sat on the inside of the booth across from Jasmine while Emma sat in the middle of her mother and the teen across from Henry. Snow sat across from her stepmother at one of the extra chairs and David sat at the end of the new table with Olivia's carseat in a chair beside him. Regina smiled at David as he rocked Olivia back and forth.

"You can take her out if you want to."

"You sure?"

"Yes David, of course."

He paused hearing her say his name, remembering how much he loved her. So much had been happening since Olivia was born and Jasmine appeared that he hadn't had the time to feel. He hadn't even had time to talk to her or finish what he was saying before she went into labor.

"I'm glad you came." Henry smiled.

"Me too." Jasmine said to Regina, although she stared across the table at Aladdin.

"Would you look at that." Mary Margaret smiled at Regina.

"What?" She smiled back hesitantly.

"You've spent so much time trying to find love again in one child...and now you've got three."

Everyone at the table laughed.

"You know, I didn't even look at it that way before." Regina chuckled.

They all seemed to be enjoying their breakfast, considering no one talked much as they ate. Being the first one finished, Emma had a question to ask.

"So...how did you end up with...you know?"

"What, Miss Swan?"

"Well, there's Henry and Olivia's a little obvious, but I wanna know...How did Jasmine end up in Storybrooke? And with her memories of everything?"

"Hmm. That's a good question...that I don't know the answer to." She said while looking at Jasmine, a little curious herself.

Jasmine looked around at everyone as they stared at her, waiting for the answer.

"I-"

"What?" Regina wanted her to continue.

She looked across the diner and saw an eavesdropping Mr. Gold who sat across his table from Belle.

"I can't tell you."

"Why not?" Emma asked.

"I don't know. But I do know what I wanna do later today." She smiled, trying to change the subject.

"What?" Henry and Aladdin both asked excitedly.

"Boys." David said and they both dropped their heads in shame and Jasmine's smile faded.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Snow asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"Jasmine...just...tell them." Aladdin tried to urge her to listen.

"I can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because I was told not to tell anyone."

"By whom?" Snow wondered.

Jasmine refused to answer.

"Well, no one said that I couldn't tell them." Aladdin opened his mouth to say the small parts that he knew. All that came out was "Ow!" when the frustrated girl kicked him from underneath the table.

"No. Someone might hear." This made Aladdin stop at once. He knew exactly who she meant and he looked back at the fork in his hand.

"Who might hear, Jasmine?" Regina asked.

The two teens looked at her and then back to eachother before returning to their plates in silence.

"Is it him?" David asked with an emphasis on the word 'him.'

Jasmine dropped her fork and took a deep breath in. Her mother turned to look at David and then back to her daughter. She grew suspicious when Jasmine slowly looked up from her plate to look at him.

"It's okay, Jasmine."

"No. It's not him." She gave him a small reassuring smile and he nodded. As he returned his attention to the bottle he was holding in the baby's mouth, Regina glared at David, wondering how he could get her to talk so easily.

"Then who is it? If not-him?" Aladdin asked, cluelessly. Apparently he didn't get the hint that they were supposed to drop it.

Jasmine tried to remain calm and it took all of her strength not to kick him again. To stop herself, she pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. 'Just breathe.' She thought to herself.

Suddenly Olivia, who had been calm all morning, began to squirm in David's arms and she began to silently cry. Something no one had ever seen before, an infant cry real tears with no sound leaving their lips.

"It's okay. It's okay." David was afraid that she might begin to scream, disrupting everyone else in the diner's breakfast. He tried rocking back and forth, but nothing happened, just more and more tears left her eyes.

"David, what's wrong?" Regina asked, finally noticing the baby's tears.

"I don't know." He answered nervously, still remaining in motion.

"Perhaps you should stand?" Emma offered and he did so.

"It's not working." David never took his eyes off of her.

"Well do something. Don't just stand there." Regina snapped, also standing.

This alerted Jasmine and she opened her eyes, looking up at them.

"Maybe we should call Dr. Whale." Mary Margaret suggested. David gave her a look that said 'no' and Regina, the opposite.

Finally realizing what they were talking about, Jasmine calmed down from their earlier conversation.

"Olivia?" Once the teen said her name, the tears stopped. Olivia's parents both turned their heads from Snow White back to the baby in David's arms. Seeing that she had stopped, they looked back at Jasmine, curiously.


	18. The Past Is In The Past: Part One

A/N: Okay, readers! These next two chapters are a part one and two because it would've been the longest chapter EVER. Hahaha! I'm gonna do a quick shout out to Michebellaxo for being the only one who has reviewed the last few chapters hahaha. Love you all! Mwah! I really hope you like these chapters. They go back to "Wasn't Meant to Be" Enjoy! Xoxo

*About 7 Months Ago*

"Gold!" Regina shouted as they entered his shop.

"What is it, dearie?"

"What's happening?"

"You know very well what's happening. I tried to warn ya. But you don't like to listen, do you?"

"Regina, what is he talking about?" Mary Margaret asked. Regina tried to hold her ground.

"I have no idea." She answered.

"No. Actually. You do." Mr. Gold said. "You could've prevented all of this if you had just taken my advice."

"Regina, what is going on?" Emma asked.

"What was that earthquake? Or whatever it was?" David wondered.

"The beginning of the end." Mr. Gold answered.

"What?" The three Charmings said in unison.

"The destruction of Storybrooke." Rumple said. "It's how the curse works. Tell me, have you all accepted the fact that Mr. Nolan here, is the father of her unborn child?"

"Yes. We have." Snow answered skeptically. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

"Why don't you tell them, Your Majesty?"

There was a long pause as they waited.

"Regina?" Emma tried to get her to answer.

There was no response.

"If you ruin the product of the Dark Curse and the product of the true love that broke it, then the town will be destroyed." The imp finally answered for her.

"Seriously?" Said the Savior.

"What?" Her mother exclaimed.

"And you knew this?" Emma asked Regina.

Again, the mayor did not answer.

"Oh, she knew very well." Gold said.

David couldn't say anything. He just stared at Regina.

"You put the whole town at risk?" Emma said to her.

"Well, I wasn't expecting you to be so accepting to your father and I's relationship." Regina snapped. "Besides, I tried to end it. I got pregnant, and he found out. After that, I found it harder to make him leave. Then he went under the sleeping curse and I kissed him just to see if he was my true love. It turned out, he was." She weakly smiled at Charming, who was still too shocked to process everything.

"Is there a way to stop it?" Emma asked Rumpelstiltskin.

"No. The only way to stop it, is to fix what was broken."

"That would mean that David and I would have to stop seeing eachother." Regina replied sadly.

"Out of the question!" David snapped.

"Then the town, will be destroyed." Rumple said.

As the Charmings and Regina left, the owner of the shop heard Emma exclaim frustratedly outside. "Ugh! What are we gonna do?" Their voices drifted as they crept farther and farther away from the door.

He sighed. "Finally, some peace and quiet."

Suddenly, he heard a thump in the back of the office and sighed once more, this time in annoyance. He walked back, hoping that maybe it would just be Belle, coming in to question all of the violent shakes throughout town. Unfortunately, he saw nothing and he grew suspicious. He began to look around, but everything seemed to be in place.

He returned to the front of the shop and realized that there was a sort of difference to the atmosphere. He stood in the middle of the room and slowly turned while carefully examining everything in sight. Suddenly, he stopped seeing something rather odd. Something he recognized, but did not recall having it in his shop. He had given it to someone back in fairytale land and he was completely unsure of how he magically seemed to own it in Storybrooke. Wait! That's it! Magic!

"Come out, come out wherever you are." His playful Enchanted Forest imp voice showed through the way he sang those words."I know that you're in here and I know who you are."

Finally, the hiding girl came out from behind a wardrobe and she looked as though she had just come from a brawl due to the dirt she had all over her and her messed up hair.

"Well hello...Jasmine."

She seemed frightened and her voice shook. "Ho-How do you know my name?"

"Let's just say, I'm a friend of the family. Although, it was your father that I was expecting to see."

"Wh-Why?"

"Because I gave him this carpet, many many years ago." He pointed to the 'elephant' in the room that made him realize something wasn't right when he saw it.

Suddenly, the Earth moved and a few small things fell off of their shelf.

"What was that?" The nervous teen asked.

"You've come to the wrong place at the wrong time, dearie. This world, unfortunately, is near to its end. And it's a shame, you'd just arrived."

"But, whe- where am I?"

"The town that your mother, Regina created and ironically, is destroying."

"My mother? You mean, I've finally found her?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes."

The girl smiled. She had traveled so many lands just to find one person who had created her and another to become her true love. To her relief, she had finally found one of them. She's had no luck finding a true love yet, but she felt that her luck was beginning to turn.

"Where did you come from, dearie? You look a little...worn out."

"I just escaped death." She smiled at the thought, but still remained afraid that she had been followed there.

"Sorry to tell you that you might not escape it in this land."

The ground shook once more and they held on to whatever was near by to stay balanced.

"What's going on here?" Jasmine asked after this shake was over, longer than the last one.

"Well, your mother believed that she found her true love and she felt that her world had finally fallen into place. Only to find out that her world would soon be falling...apart. Her lover is unfortunately married to Snow White, your half stepsister, and they were the product of your mother's curse. The curse that created this town. And because of your mother's recent love affair to the prince, the curse was destroyed, taking the town down with it. With everyone in it."

"That's a lot to take in." She thought out loud.

"Anyway, maybe you should go find her. Don't really have much time before we all die in order for you to have a little mother-daughter time."

"Maybe I can help." She offered.

"With the curse? I'm afraid that's impossible."

"I have magic." She smiled.

"So do I. It's not that you can't help, it's that you won't be able to. Nothing and no one can stop this but your mother."

"Maybe I can go talk to her."

"I'm afraid your mother's not too easy to persuade. Besides, her pregnancy hormones may be another obstacle."

"Pregnant? She's having a baby?" She immediately regretted coming here. She was going to ruin everything, just like she always does. And now her mother was having another baby and she suddenly felt unimportant.

"Yes. That's another reason the town will be destroyed. Snow White's prince is the father of their love child."

"I must be able to do something. I can make a wish." She wanted to help. She needed to help. She had to be important.

"Sorry, but now's not the time for making wishes."

"No, no. That's my power. I make a wish and I can make it come true."

"Right...daughter of a genie. What's the catch? Magic always comes with a price."

"I've learned on my journeys that I can only make a wish if it benefits others and not myself."

"That could put a damper on the whole power, couldn't it?" He mumbled.

They were hit by another aftershock and Belle stumbled into the shop as his little bell on the front door jingled upon her entrance and the shaking.


	19. The Past Is In The Past: Part Two

"Belle. There you are."

"Rumple, what's happening?" She asked.

"Long story, dear. All you need to know is that this might be our last time together."

"What?" She sounded frightened.

"Storybrooke, I'm afraid, is going to disappear...along with us."

"What about my carpet?" Jasmine asked as Belle finally noticed the third person in the room.

"What!?" The princess asked as the long shaking finally ended. This one, the longest out of all of them so far.

"My father's magic carpet. It can travel between lands. Couldn't we have everyone-"

"I'm afraid that might take too long...and who knows what land everyone will travel to. That carpet can send you anywhere, and everyone here might be split into several lands all at once." Rumple answered.

"Then what do we do?" Belle asked.

"We wait. And we see if our dear mayor, makes the right decision."

They looked around at the many fallen things in the shop.

"What would she do to stop it?" Belle wondered.

"Either just break it off with David. Or, the way that he's been reacting to all of this...she may have to erase his memories. Along with ours."

He had begun to open his safe and he took out a potion bottle.

"What's that for?" Jasmine asked.

"It's to stop us from forgetting. She may cast her memory charm, but we'll be able to remember."

"Why?" Belle demanded.

"Because...someone's gotta remember. You'd be amazed at how much power you can have over someone when you know a tiny little secret." He smiled, devilishly.

"Rumple, if this is about revenge. Please don't!" Belle protested.

"This is not about revenge. It's about protection."

"From what?"

"Anything." He took a little sip and she grew furious. "Please, just drink it...Please."

She hesitated, but eventually drank it and he gave the last drop to Jasmine. The teen looked out the window and saw a large crowd of people heading in the same direction. A woman with a red leather jacket and long blonde hair was leading them with a short-haired brunette woman beside her.

"Where are they going?" She asked, creeping closer and closer to the window. Causing Belle to do the same.

"I don't know." She answered. "Rumple?"

"One's coming this way." Jasmine said before Gold could answer.

Emma entered the shop anxiously. "We're all meeting at the town hall. Regina says that there's a magic bean that can bring us all back to the Enchanted Forest before this town crumbles around us."

"Do you really think it will work?" Belle asked.

"It's kind of a long shot, yes. But we must try something. And we don't have all day to talk about it, so come on."

They all left hastily and Jasmine felt very out of place. For the first time seeing this town, it was destroyed and completely in ruins. They arrived at the town hall where everyone was there and people gathered with their loved ones. Jasmine, however, was the only one with no one to hold. She felt awkward and didn't want to be there with all of the love that she watched other people give.

She turned to leave and Belle put her hand on her shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"Oh, I was just going to go find a bathroom." She lied.

"Be careful." The woman smiled at her and let the young girl go. As Jasmine walked out of the first set of doors, she saw a man and a woman enter and she quickly hid behind one of the open, double doors.

They walked into the town hall and she was about to leave when she realized that everyone in the room stood upon their entrance. Still out of sight, she watched from behind the door.

"I'm afraid we couldn't-" The man said, holding hands with the woman beside him. Jasmine watched as everyone broke down in tears, embracing their family members and the man turned to the woman. "Regina, I-"

"It's alright, David. Go see your family." He kissed her on the forehead before going over to the blonde and the short haired brunette that the teen girl recognized from earlier.

"Mom? Dad?" The blonde said as she cried, they all went in for a big hug, including a young boy who squeezed out of the hug shortly after it began and walked over to the woman that Jasmine suspected was her own mother, due to the man calling her Regina.

"I love you, Mom." The boy said.

"She has a son, too?" Jasmine asked herself, realizing more and more how unimportant she was.

The tall, blonde man (who was awkwardly the father of a girl his own age) stepped up to Regina and kissed her before putting his hand on her stomach. He bent down to talk to the baby.

"Hey Ariana, I just wanted you to know how much Mommy and Daddy love you. We wish we could hold you right now. Maybe one day." The man called David kissed the woman's stomach and they cried.

"I love you so much, David."

"I love you more."

"I doubt it." The woman smiled through her tears.

They kissed again and Jasmine decided to leave. She wasn't wanted here, nor did it matter now because they were all gonna die. She began to leave before feeling the most violent aftershock of them all. She felt the whole world crumble around her.

"David? I have to!" Jasmine heard her mother yell.

"What!?" The man could hardly hear her because of all the shaking.

"I have to do it! This isn't the way!"

"Regina! What are you talking about?!"

"You know how much I love you, right?!"

"Of course I do!"

"Then you understand?!"

"Understand what, Regina?!"

"Why I have to do this!"

"Regina! What are you saying?!"

"I love you!" She yelled one last time as Jasmine, still unseen, watched her sob.

The woman waved her hand very slowly and suddenly, the shaking stopped. Jasmine, confused, had no idea what just happened. She stared into the room and noticed that no one else seemed to understand either. Until she looked at the man and woman (called Belle and Rumple?) who had been at the shop with her. They both exchanged looks that expressed that the potion they had drank worked and they still had their memories.

Everyone else recollected themselves and looked around. They couldn't remember what they were doing there.

"Regina? What's going on?" The woman with the red leather jacket asked. "What are we doing here?"

"We were discussing my resignation as mayor and the power went out." Jasmine heard the pain in her voice as she lied. She looked as though she might cry.

"Your resignation?" The short haired brunette said, as she held David's hand.

"Yes. I have a daughter to raise, and I feel as though you need someone better than me as your mayor. I'm sorry for everything I've done in the past and I will leave you alone for the remainder of your days."

"You have a daughter to raise?" The blonde woman was now confused.

Jasmine grew more sad as the resigning mayor put her hand on her stomach. "Yes...Olivia." The hiding teen felt a tear escape her eye as she watched her mother smile when she said the name. She was surprised that Regina said 'Olivia' after David had just called her 'Ariana.'

"Who's the father?" The woman holding David's hand asked.

Jasmine was curious as to what the fake answer would be as Regina looked at the real father.

"Graham. Graham's the father." She turned to leave and Jasmine quickly sunk back behind the door, realizing that she had unconsciously moved out too much when she was trying to watch more happen.

Suddenly, just as Regina reached the door she stopped, causing butterflies to form in Jasmine's stomach. Had she seen or heard her? The young girl relaxed when she realized that she had stopped to look back once more at the hugging family and the young boy who seemed to have forgotten about her, even though she was his mother. Jasmine didn't understand that, and she grew angry with the boy. He had a mother who clearly loved him. Her mother. And he didn't even act like she was there.

Regina looked down at the floor in sadness and turned to leave. As she walked away, Jasmine came back from behind the door and a few slow tears ran down her cheeks as she noticed the feelings that both she and her mother shared. The pain, the hurt, the feeling of being forgotten, and the unimportance.

It took all of Jasmine's strength not to run after her mother. But she believed that if she were to appear in Regina's life at this hard time, it would only make the former mayor's life worse. Jasmine was only the baby that was taken and never searched for. She wasn't wanted. Her existence in this world...in any world was pointless.

Jasmine had wanted to see her mother so badly in the past. Then, she finally realized, that the past was just that...the past. And there was no going back to change it.

A/N: I hope you liked it and I hope you weren't too mixed up. Review. Review. Review! ;* Kisses! Mwah!


	20. Unconditional Love

*Present Day*

"Okay...That was weird." Emma said after a long moment of awkward silence when Olivia finally seized her crying.

"Was that you?" Aladdin asked Jasmine as the four adults just stared at the infant in David's arms.

"No...I don't think so?" The teen replied.

"Maybe it was your magic." Henry suggested, unsure himself if it was possible.

"I don't know. My power doesn't work like that."

"Well, whatever it was...it worked." David said. "It's strange."

"What is?" Henry asked.

"Babies don't cry silently."

"Maybe she's different?" The twelve year old tried to persuade.

"Hmm...Maybe." Charming didn't sound too convinced.

He sat back down and Regina slowly followed, still confused and curious as to what all of that was about.

"More coffee anyone?" Granny appeared with a coffee pot and a genuine smile.

"Yes, please." Regina said in a monotone voice, still looking down at the table in front of her.

"Anyone else?" The woman asked as she poured the steaming liquid into her cup.

"No thanks." Emma replied.

"I think we're good. Thanks, Granny." Snow White smiled.

Miss Lucas began to walk away before she stopped to look at Olivia and examined the estranged facial expressions given by everyone.

"This wasn't the first time that's happened."

"What?" Emma wondered.

"Olivia has cried like that once before. She did while I was watching her one day."

"Why didn't you say anything?" A worried and annoyed Regina asked.

"I wasn't sure what it meant and it only happened once. I was going to tell you last night, but you left so fast and-"

"Next time, you need to tell me!" The former mayor snapped. She felt as though she were drifting back to her old ways. Granny glared at her for a moment before taking a deep breath and walking over to Gold's table.

Regina stared at her as she headed towards him, seeing the look he had on his face after Granny left his table. It was as if he knew something.

"Excuse me." Regina said, getting up from her chair and majestically sauntering to the imp. "Why do you keep looking over there?" She asked in a low voice as she bent over, putting her hands on the table in front of her and leaning on it.

"I don't know what you're talking about, dearie."

"Gold!"

He just smiled at her for a moment and she squinted back at him. Belle grew anxious watching.

"Look, Regina. I-I think you should go back to your table." She said nervously, afraid of what the powerful Evil Queen might do. "Pl-please."

"Oh, I'll go...As soon as your dear Rumple tells me what he knows."

Belle opened her mouth to say something when Rumple cut her off.

"I know lots of stuff, Your Majesty. What exactly would you like to know."

"Why was Olivia crying and why was Jasmine able to stop it just by saying her name?"

"Oh, that? Well, it's quite simple actually. They have a sort of...connection, I guess you could say."

"What kind of connection? Magical?"

"No. It's more like...sororal. Family. Your dear Jasmine, was crying inside her head, and Olivia felt her sister upset. So she actually cried...And when Jasmine calmed down...so did Olivia."

Regina kept her hands on the table in front of her as she only turned her head over her shoulder to glance at the family at her table. She turned her head back to Gold to ask one more question.

"Why doesn't Henry have that connection with them?"

"Do you really need to ask that question?"

She pursed her lips in frustration, anger, and agony as her eyes teared up. "Because he's not really their brother." She turned to look at them one more time.

"Correct." He taunted as she looked back at him with a softer face.

She took her hands off the table and returned to her original seat beside Henry. Everyone watched her sit down and then check the temperature of the coffee. She looked up, finally realizing that they all had their eyes on her.

"What was all that about?" Emma asked.

"I asked him if he knew what was going on with Olivia." She said nonchalantly as if it were nothing.

There was a short pause.

"And?" David asked.

"It's nothing to worry about."

There was a second pause as Regina asked for some sugar. No one seemed to be listening at all.

"Well...What is it?" Jasmine finally asked.

"It's-" She paused and looked at Henry. If she were to tell them the truth, she'd really lose him. He wouldn't feel like a part of her family anymore if he knew the truth. But if she lied to him...he'd be mad at her for it.

"He said that Jasmine and Olivia have a kind of sisterly connection where when one of them feels down, the other one can sense it...and that's all that happened earlier. Jasmine felt stressed, so Olivia felt her inner tears and she cried real ones. When Jasmine became concerned about her and stopped crying in her head, Olivia stopped crying."

Everyone turned to look at Jasmine and she looked around at them, unaware herself.

"Now, can someone please pass me the sugar?" Regina acted like nothing happened. There was another awkward pause and everyone was still looking at Jasmine. " Hello?"

Finally, everyone shook it off and returned to whatever it was they were doing and Jasmine reached for a packet of sugar. She suddenly stopped when she felt a hand touch hers as Aladdin reached for one as well. They looked at eachother for a second before quickly removing their hands.

"You can get it-No, you-Alright I've got it." They both spontaneously said at the same time.

"Would someone just pass it, already?" Emma said, holding back a laugh.

Henry reached across Jasmine and gave his adoptive mother two packets while the two teens tried to regain their composure.

"Thank you, Henry." Regina smiled as she shook the two packets at once before opening them and pouring them into the coffee. She looked to Mary Margaret, then to Emma, and then to David as she stirred it with a spoon. They all exchanged looks that each recognized as a reference to Jasmine and Aladdin.

"So Jasmine...earlier you were saying something about what you wanted to do for the rest of the day? What was that?" Snow said, still looking at Regina who just drank her coffee and smiled.

"Oh...I think we should have a picnic in the park later...like for lunch."

"That sounds like it would be wonderful." David looked up from Olivia and smiled.

"And then we should have ice cream after." She grinned.

"Yeah." Henry exclaimed. "After we go to the stables. I have to feed my horse first."

"You have a horse?" Aladdin asked, in awe.

"He does." David answered from the end of the added table.

"We should all go." Snow suggested when she realized how excited Aladdin seemed.

"What do you think of that, kid? Introduce everyone to your horse?" Emma playfully hit Henry's arm from across the table.

"I'd love that." He smiled.

"Cool!" Said Aladdin.

They all began to leave and Regina let them go out ahead.

"Ruby?" She stopped by the counter.

"Hm?" Red answered shortly, leaning against the other side of the counter across from her.

"Could you bring your grandmother out here for minute? I'd like to speak with her."

"Sure." The tall woman left for a second and returned with Granny right behind her.

"Make it fast, sister. I've got burgers on the grill back there." Granny said upon arrival.

"I'm sure they'll be fine." Regina waved her hand gesturing that she had nothing to worry about. "I just wanted to apologize for snapping at you."

"You're apologizing to ME?" The older woman almost laughed, not being used to the regal woman apologizing to anyone, let alone herself.

"Yes." The younger one answered in annoyance while rolling her eyes, but her sincere look quickly returned. "There was no reason for me to get so angry and-"

"Ah. Don't worry about it. She's your baby, of course you should be mad when I don't tell you serious things like that."

"It wasn't that serious. It turns out she's just fine."

There was silence for a moment.

"Well, again...I'm-I'm sorry." Regina broke the silence.

"Well, thank you...And I'm sorry, too."

"Now get back there before your burgers burn." The queen lightly smiled at the woman before she nodded in appreciation and returned to the back.

Regina exited the diner, saw everyone standing by the "Granny's Open" sign, and joined the group.

"Are we carpooling?" Emma asked. She tried not to laugh at the clueless look on Aladdin's face. He obviously had no idea what that meant.

Regina looked up to the sky. It had stopped raining and it seemed as though the dull, gray color was returning to a proud blue and the clouds were slowly moving away. She smiled still looking up.

"No." She looked back down. "I think we should walk."

They all looked around at eachother as if they were deciding.

"Yeah." David said, holding Olivia's carseat with her in it.

"This town's small enough." Emma mumbled, causing a light chuckle from everyone before they began to walk.

Halfway to the stables David stopped abruptly, closing his eyes. "Crap!"

"What is it, David?" Snow asked.

"I left the diaper bag at Granny's."

"I'll go get it." Jasmine offered.

"I'll go, too." Aladdin said.

"No-"

"Yes, you two go on." Regina jumped in before Jasmine could protest.

"But-"

"I insist." Her mother smiled and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine."

Aladdin began to walk back and Regina grabbed Jasmine's hand holding her back for a second. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong." Jasmine replied. "I just don't understand why he has to come, too."

"Two reasons." Regina grinned. "One...You're not safe on your own yet...and two...you should talk to him."

Her daughter scoffed. "I've talked to him way more than I wanted to in the past...I don't know if I want to add onto that." She tried to continue walking, but her mother didn't let go.

"Jasmine, he likes you...a lot."

"What? No way."

"Yes way...And I think you like him, too."

"Uh, no."

"You may not think so, but you both have really good chemistry. I really see what's going on...We all do. You're the only two who don't. Go talk to him. And I have something that I need to talk to you about when you return."

Jasmine stared at her mother with a look of slight confusion and concern on her face before Regina finally let go of her hand and she caught up to Aladdin.

"So..." Snow said to Regina when they continued toward the stables. She now had Olivia's carseat after asking if she could hold her for a while.

"What?"

"Are those two-?"

"I don't know. I don't think that THEY know, but something's going on there...and neither of them realize. They claim that they are not very fond of eachother...but I see differently."

"Jasmine's got a boyfriend?" Henry got excited.

"Not exactly, kid." Emma said.

"I don't understand?" The boy replied.

"Neither do I." David mumbled.

"You're a man...you wouldn't understand." Mary Margaret said while smiling and Regina chuckled.

After her chuckle, her smile faded into a strange look. She had never really laughed at something Snow White had said while actually thinking it was funny. She continued to walk, but she looked around at Emma, Henry, David, and Snow. This actually felt like family to her. They all seemed happy in this moment and she didn't feel threathened by anyone. Not Henry for leaving her, nor Emma for taking him from her, nor David for leaving all responsibility of Olivia up to her, nor Snow for keeping him from his daughter and leaving her fatherless...She felt security...and oddly enough...she felt unconditional love. How strange that was to her. She couldn't help but weakly smile.

"What's that look for?" David asked, slowing down so they could walk beside one another.

"Huh?"

"That smile."

"I don't know. I just feel-"

"What?"

"I just feel." She smiled. Yes, that's what she meant...She had finally been able to feel something...Well, something other than hurt and anger.

"Is that a good thing?" He teased, while gently bumping her arm and then keeping the contact.

"Yes." She giggled and pushed his arm away.

He laughed while continuing to watch her walk...his smile faded a little.

"I'm sorry, Regina. I really am."

"Sorry for what, David?" She still smiled, looking at her feet as she walked.

"Everything." His smile had completely gone now. "Everything in the Enchanted Forest, everything in Storybrooke, everything between us, between you and Jasmine." He paused. "Everything between you and Victor, I'm sorry about it all."

She stopped when he said 'Victor' and gave him a look that told him he had no right to bring him up.

He stopped, too. "I know, I know. I didn't mean to say that..." He thought for a moment. "Actually, no. I DID mean to say that...You deserve to be happy and lately, it doesn't seem like you are."

She had no idea how to respond to any of this.

"Are you happy?" He wondered.

"It's not that I'm not happy, David. I'm just stressed. There's so much going on right now. It was enough with Olivia...but then this whole thing that's happening with Jasmine, I just-I-" She sighed and looked down as if she were ashamed to say the next part. "He and I just haven't had time to work on our relationship." She confessed.

He understood and he slowly attempted to hold her hand. To his surprise...she didn't pull it away. They walked hand in hand for a few minutes before Snow turned around and they quickly let go.

"You can hold hands." She smiled. "I don't mind...as long as the town doesn't self destruct again." She said while grinning at Olivia in the baby carrier.

"In that case, we probably shouldn't." Regina said.

"Yeah." David agreed. "Just to be on the safe side."

They smiled at eachother and continued to follow the other three.

"I guess you could say we're a little dysfunctional." Regina said, referring to her relationship with Victor.

He smiled at her. "Aren't we all?" He joked.

"Yeah." She laughed and then retreated to a thoughtful look. "...Especially considering he kissed my daughter."

"Yeah." He said awkwardly.

A/N: I hope you liked it. Please review! It means a lot to me and I'd like to know if I'm doing anything wrong. Love you lots! Mwah!


	21. Anything's Possible

A/N: Hey, readers. This chapter's a little sad and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, so please tell me what you think! And just give me the word and I'll update the next chapter ASAP. Hope you enjoy! Xoxo

The walk back to the diner was quiet. Jasmine kept trying to find ways to talk to Aladdin, but she didn't know what to say. They arrived at their destination and retrieved Olivia's diaper bag. Then they continued their walk towards the stables. The only problem was...they had no idea how to get there. They knew which way to go up until they reached the point where they had to turn back around the first time.

"Ugh! I knew this was a bad idea. I should've asked someone for directions."

"We still can." Aladdin suggested.

"Look around us. There is no one in sight...They're all back at Granny's."

"We can turn around and go back?"

She let out an annoyed sigh. "By the time we go back, get directions, and then finally make it to the stables, Regina and company are gonna be gone when we get there."

"Why don't we call someone?"

"Do you have a phone?" She asked sarcastically.

"Well, no." He paused. "Do you?"

"No, idiot. I don't have a phone. Don't you think I would've used it by now if-"

"What? If what?"

She didn't answer him, but she began to walk passed him and he turned to see that she had gone to a payphone nearby. The perks of Regina sending them to America in the '80's. Not that they knew that, though.

"Why isn't it working?" Aladdin asked after Jasmine dialed a number a few times and nothing happened.

"Like I know."

"Well, didn't your mother teach you anything since you've been here?"

She paused and looked at the phone, ignoring him. She gently touched the slot where you insert quarters.

"Hello? Are you even listening to-"

"Sshhh...I think you have to pay." She said thoughtfully.

"Well, that's great! I hope you have money, because I know that I don't!"

"Sh!" She closed her eyes after he finally shut up.

"Jasmine, are you-"

"Sh!" Finally, a gust of purple wind escaped her chest and turned red. She smiled and opened her eyes.

"What did you-"

"Check your pockets." She grinned.

"No. You check your pockets. I'm not-"

Her grin vanished and she rolled her eyes before shoving her hands into his pockets.

"What are-" He immediately seized talking when he saw a couple of quarters that she'd pulled out. "Why didn't you just send them to your own pockets?"

"My powers don't work unless they benefit someone else. I can't use them for personal gain." She answered while adding the quarters to the machine and dialing the only phone number she could memorize.

"Well, that's kinda-"

"Sh!" The phone was ringing and he realized that she seemed to enjoy shushing him.

"Alright." She said after hanging up. "I know where we're going now."

"You're sure?" He asked.

She looked at him with one eyebrow raised, just like her mother when she's annoyed or angry. After standing there and staring at him for a while, she began to walk, mumbling something to herself under her breath.

"What?" He asked, catching up to her.

"I said, I can't believe Regina thinks that we have a thing."

"Huh?" He wondered, shell-shocked.

"Yeah. Apparently everyone in the Charming family and my mother seem to think that you and I are in love with eachother...Or something like that."

"That's-"

"Ridiculous, I know."

They didn't talk for the rest of the way. When they finally reached the stables, Regina was waiting for them outside of the front of the barn. When she turned to see them, she smiled.

"Good thing you remembered my phone number." She joked as they walked by her. She stopped for a moment, realizing they were both a little tense and then she continued to follow after them. "Jasmine...Can I talk to you for a second, please."

"Maybe later." She answered.

"No. Now!" Regina stopped following them and then Jasmine turned around to walk back to her as Aladdin joined Henry and the Charmings at his horse.

"What is it?" The teen asked gently.

"Out here." Regina led her back outside of the barn. Once they were out of sight, she turned around with her arms crossed.

"What?" Jasmine wondered, a little nervously.

"First...I need to speak with you about Victor-"

"What about him?"

"I know about the kiss."

"He told you?" She asked, embarrassed and even more nervous than before.

"Yes, he did."

"Well, what is it you wanna talk about?" She tried her best not to show the fear building up inside of her.

"I just wanted to hear your side of the story."

Jasmine paused, unaware of how to start. "Well...It was the day after Olivia's birthday-" Regina already seemed hurt and her daughter had a hard time continuing. "-you two were in the hospital and I was holding Olivia. Then I asked you what her middle name was, causing him to leave, which was my fault...When he left, I followed him to try and convince him not to feel hurt by David's memories coming back...which was also my fault." She shook her head as she was very upset. "I screw up everything...Anyway, when I followed him into the alley, he was angry and hurt and I realized he had been drinking...then he kissed me. I don't even know why, but he did. Later that night, he came to my room to talk about it and we kissed again, but-"

"Wait! You kissed twice?!"

Jasmine stopped, forgetting that she had gone too far.

She continued very slowly and cautiously. "Yes, but he told me that he was deeply in love with you. And that was it."

"Was it?"

"Yes...I realized, when he left, that he was a like father to me and then I was ashamed. Then-" She stopped, very abruptly.

"Then what, Jasmine?" Regina was shocked by the extremely frightened look on her face.

"Then that's when he took me." She whispered.

"Who? Victor?"

"No..." She had trouble saying his name. "But, anyway...When I saw Victor in the hospital after awaking from my coma..."

"Yeah?"

"It reminded of that night...and that Victor was the last good person I saw before I was taken." She put her head down in shame and sadness. "And I was blaming him for leaving me and not rescuing me."

Regina lifted her chin up to look her in the eye, realizing that she had teared up just a little. Jasmine saw the tears that ran down her mother's cheeks.

"It wasn't his fault. It was mine." Jasmine said after a long pause.

"No." Regina shook her head. "No." She lightly sobbed, her hand still under Jasmine's chin. "It was mine. It was mine. I'm sorry."

"No...No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Regina."

There was a pause.

"What else did you wanna talk about?" Jasmine finally asked.

"I needed to apologize."

"For what?"

"Not looking for you."

Jasmine turned away and took a few steps toward the barn, her back to Regina. "What do you mean?"

"When you were born and taken from me...After you died, well after I was told you died, I had given up. I had no more strength left in me. Jasmine, you're the reason for everything I've done. All the pain, all the anger, all the hate...that was because I believed that I truly was not meant to be happy. After you died, it killed me...and there was no more Regina. After you died...that's when I truly turned to the dark side. I couldn't handle it and becoming the Evil Queen was the only thing that kept me going. I know that doesn't make sense, but that's how I coped. I wanted revenge. Revenge on everyone and everything because I had finally realized that losing you meant that I was truly never going to have a family. I worry everyday because of what might happen to you, or Olivia, or Henry. I worry for David, because I'm afraid that Olivia will grow up without a father. I just wanted happiness for once. I don't know what I did to deserve so much loss before I was declared evil, but I tried. Jasmine, all I'm trying to say is...the reason I didn't look for you was because I was too angry with your death to try. And there's something I haven't told you that you need to hear."

"What?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing and she had no idea what else she possibly needed to hear.

"Jasmine, I'm so happy your alive and I love you so very very much! I love you!"

Jasmine took a second to think and she finally let her wall down when she slightly looked over her shoulder at Regina, whose head was down and she watched a tear fall to the ground. Which broke her. She let out a sigh of relief and turned around, running to her mother and giving her the biggest hug she's ever given anyone.

After a few minutes of hugging and crying, they laughed gently and pulled away.

"What is it?" Regina asked, realizing Jasmine seemed to be thinking of something.

"I've just...I've never felt important before."

"You're very important." The former mayor grinned as Jasmine smiled at the ground. "How did the walk go?" She asked, referring to going back to Granny's to get the diaper bag. "Besides the getting lost part." She joked and they both chuckled. Jasmine didn't know how to answer. "Did you talk?"

"Not exactly."

"Why not?"

"I don't-I don't know how to-I just don't think-"

"Jasmine, I think it's time you finally let Aladdin in."

"I don't know if I can."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. He's just-he irritates me sometimes!"

"Victor used to irritate me so much! And don't even get me started on David." Regina smiled. "Just talk to him...Find his interests. Or...this is a new place for him...Show him around a bit, teach him new things that I've taught you. You'll find that you might have more in common than you think."

"Really?"

"Yes." She gently nudged Jasmine in her arm as she led her back into the barn.

"And I think it's time you finally told David and Victor the truth."

"You think?" Regina's smile lightly faded, she wasn't sure.

"Yes. You should be happy. I know that this was supposed to be the land with no happy endings...but here, anything's possible. "

She stopped for a second and picked a beautiful feather up off the ground before handing it to her mother. Regina looked at it in her hand and smiled before she put her arm around Jasmine's shoulder and they entered the barn. Suddenly Regina remembered...Tomorrow, he wanted them to go to the docks. She decided to wait for the right moment to tell Jasmine...Don't ruin such a good day...she's finally smiling, she thought to herself.

"Hey, Mom!" Henry yelled excitedly, running to them. "What was your horse's name back in the Enchanted Forest?"

Regina laughed as she took her arm off of Jasmine's shoulder and Henry pulled her towards his steed.

"Rocinante." She laughed. Jasmine watched the group bond together with a large grin on her face as she stopped in her tracks.

"Cool!" Henry said, referring to his mother's horse's name. "Hey, Jasmine! Have you ever had a horse?" He asked while leaving the group after pulling Regina over to them. He ran right up to Jasmine to do the same to her and she laughed at how hyper this kid could get sometimes.

"No, I didn't. But I did have a tiger. Her name was-"

"Rajah!" Henry interrupted happily. "I remember!"

She laughed again before catching eye contact with Aladdin who had been smiling at her for a few moments now. He quickly looked away when she saw him.

"Hey, kid. Have you thought of a name for him yet?" David asked, gesturing towards the white stallion with caramel brown spots.

"No. That's why I asked mom what her horse's name was so I could come up with some ideas...but I don't know yet."

"Well, I'm sure you'll think of something." Mary Margaret smiled, while petting the horse.

Suddenly, Olivia began to cry...this time, a normal infant cry and they all turned to her in the carseat on the stool near the door.

"Uh oh! Jasmine! Are you okay?" Aladdin joked, putting his arm on her shoulder and she just looked at him.

He took his hand off immediately, waiting for her to reprimand him for touching her, but all she did was laugh. Then everyone joined in.

"Yes, I'm fine. I think she just needs a diaper change." He awkwardly laughed, surprised at her reaction.

"Good thing we went back to get the diaper bag then, huh?" He chuckled.

"You can tell what the problem is?" Emma asked.

"Kinda."

"How?"

"I don't know. It's just a guess really...I don't even know if I'm right."

Regina picked Olivia up and checked her diaper. "Well, you are."

"Really?" Jasmine asked, astounded.

"Yes." Regina began to set up a spot for her to change it.

"Wow." The teen girl smiled.

"Awesome. Mom, isn't that so cool?" Henry asked Regina, while brushing the mane of his unnamed steed.

She nodded while she finished changing Olivia's diaper and then smiled when she realized that Henry was looking on the bright side of things, as always. At the diner, she believed that if she told him about the connection between Jasmine and Olivia, that he would truly leave her for Emma. Just because she had two daughters now, it did not mean that she didn't want Henry anymore. She still loved him dearly.

A/N: Im sorry. I had to add a feather in there SOMEWHERE. Hahahaha i hope you liked it. Now go review. Teehee! Love ya! Mwah!


	22. Good Enough

A/N: Hello! Here's another update for you! You might see a nervous side of Regina that we've never really seen before, but don't worry. It's only for a brief moment and then she goes back the confident Regina we all know. I may update the next chapter today as well, just because I feel like it! Love you! Enjoy!

After about an hour at the stables, they left to get picnic supplies. David, Snow, and Emma went to the store for some food while Henry went to Regina's house with her and the baby to get some dessert and a few other snacks. Jasmine and Aladdin were sent to the park to find a good spot and wait for the others to return.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Henry?" The former mayor answered as they entered the kitchen. Olivia took a small nap.

"What's wrong?"

"What do you mean, hon?"

"You seem a little worried."

"Do I?"

"Yeah...Is everything okay?"

"Well..." She didn't want to lie. She seized her search for some snacks and moved closer to her son, lifting him up onto a stool by the counter as best she could. He was growing way too fast. "You know that Jasmine was hurt bad?"

"Yes?"

"The man who hurt her...she won't tell anyone who it was, but he called here this morning-"

"He did?"

"Yes...He wants me to bring her to the docks tomorrow-"

"You can't-"

"Henry, I have to."

"Why?" He pulled his hand away from hers.

"Because Henry. He said that if I don't...He'll hurt someone. He might hurt Olivia...Maybe you. I can't let that happen-"

"Yes, but if you bring Jasmine, he'll hurt her. He might hurt you!"

"Henry..." She reached for his hand again, but he moved it farther away. "Don't worry about me. I promise he's not gonna hurt anyone else."

He looked into her eyes and finally allowed her to hold his hand. Then he nodded. "Just please be careful. And you should bring my mom, Grandma, and Grandpa too. They might be able to help."

"I don't think so, Henry. This man is very dangerous and he told me not to bring anybody besides Jasmine and I. But please...let's just enjoy today." She gave him a weak smile and he returned one of his own.

"Does Jasmine know?" He asked quietly.

"No...I don't wanna frighten her anymore today. I'll let her know tonight. Okay?"

"Okay." She kissed him on the forehead and the oven made a noise as the apple cookies and the chocolate chip cookies finished baking. She took them out and then continued to search for something else to bring.

Olivia woke up about a half an hour later and they left for the park in Regina's Mercedes Benz. She had never let Henry sit in the front before, because she was so strict and protective. Today was the first time he was able to sit next to his adoptive mother while she drove. He looked at her in the driver's seat and smiled.

"What?" She asked, noticing and then smiling herself.

"Nothing." He looked straight ahead. "I'm just happy."

She looked at him with more love in her smile than she thought she could hold and she gently rubbed his cheek and then pinched his nose playfully. At this moment...she felt good enough. Yes, it had been such a long time coming, but she did.

"Sounds like you're not the only one who's happy." She said as Olivia laughed in the back seat.

Henry turned to look at her. "What is she laughing at?" He wondered, smiling.

"I have no idea." She answered as they pulled into the parking lot by the park. "But I think I do now." She said upon arriving.

Henry, curious, turned back to look through the windshield. "Oh. Now it makes sense." He smiled, seeing Jasmine and Aladdin sitting at a picnic table underneath a few trees. They were both laughing and it explained why Olivia was as well. Henry began to unbuckle.

"It's about time." Regina said.

"About time for what?" Henry asked, realizing she wasn't moving, but just watching. She hadn't even reached for her belt yet.

"Those two." She replied, hands still on the steering wheel.

He looked one more time at the two teens and smiled seeing that they were obviously having a good conversation. He looked back to his mother. "Are we gonna go?"

"No. We'll wait til the others get here. Let them have a little bit more time together." She smiled, her seat belt still on.

He smiled at her. "Okay." He relaxed and looked back at Olivia once more. "Well, at least she's happy too." He said, chuckling a little bit.

She turned around to see her baby girl and smiled as well.

After about five minutes, the Charmings finally arrived in David's truck and everyone got out and helped carry something. Regina had the cookies in one hand and Olivia's car seat in the other. Jasmine must've felt that they were there because suddenly, she rushed from the table over to her baby sister and took the seat from her mother, while Aladdin assisted David in whatever way he could.

Henry ran to the table with the picnic blanket, setting it neatly on top of it. Emma and Mary Margaret set the plastic ware down and Regina followed, putting her cookies on one side of the table. David and Aladdin brought the rest of the food and Henry brought back some condiments.

"Who's gonna make the hot dogs and hamburgers?" Emma wondered out loud.

"I can." Both David and Regina said in unison. They both smiled at each other and giggled.

"I'll do it." Regina tried to re offer.

"No, Regina. Let me. You sit down and relax." David said.

She hesitated for a moment. "Okay." She sat on the spot on the bench in front of Olivia's car seat. She took her out and set the carrier on the ground. She fixed the cute little headband that she had on and began to pat her back before switching the position she had her in so she could feed her with the bottle.

"Regina. Let me do that. David said to relax." Jasmine reached over to her mother and took the baby and the bottle from her faster than Regina could say no.

Henry and Aladdin were playing a game that no one understood but the two of them while David made the hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill next to the table. Emma, Mary Margaret, and Regina sat at the table talking about motherly stuff while Jasmine continued to feed the baby next to Regina. Her mother noticed that both she and Aladdin would occasionally give each other the same smiles as they continued to do their own thing.

Finally, she decided to say something. "So, Jasmine...I'm guessing things are good between you and Aladdin."

Jasmine seized looking at him and she turned to look at Emma and Snow, her cheeks blushing a little, before looking back at her mother and then to the baby in her arms. "Yeah. We're...Okay."

"Seems better than okay. You two can't stop looking at each other." Snow smiled. And Regina was grateful that she wasn't the only one who noticed.

Jasmine tried fighting back a smile, but it didn't work.

"I've seen that look before." Emma said, smiling herself.

"What look?" The teen asked, her cheeks now almost as pink as her baby sister's shirt.

"The look that says 'I like someone and they might like me.' Trust me. I've gone through it many times. It's like...you finally feel good enough for once."

Jasmine didn't know what to say, so she just smiled and finished feeding Olivia the bottle.

"Well...I'm gonna have to have a talk with him later then."

"David!" Snow said and they all laughed. He didn't realize he said that loud enough for anyone to hear him.

"What? I'm not letting him get away with not having the protective father talk. Just 'cause she doesn't have a father doesn't mean he's not getting one." David smiled as he flipped a burger.

"Is the food done yet?!" Henry yelled as he excitedly ran over to the laughing group, quickly sitting down next to Emma, close to the grill as Aladdin sat across from him next to Jasmine. She finished feeding Olivia and set the bottle on the table, putting her on the burp cloth over her shoulder to pat her back.

"Almost, kid." David smiled.

"You're really good at that." Aladdin admired Jasmine with the baby.

"Maternal instinct. Every woman has it." Snow smiled. "Whether they have children or not."

"And she's not having any for a long time." Regina scolded, giving both Jasmine and Aladdin a look that said 'Don't even think about it!' They both just looked at her, expressionless. "Right?"

"Right." They very quickly responded, both feeling utterly terrified and somewhat violated.

"Good." Snow, Regina, and David all said in unison after ending their long stare at the teenagers.

"Wait, HOW old are you?" The Savior asked.

"Seventeen, but I turn eighteen in a couple of months." Jasmine responded.

"I'm almost nineteen." Aladdin answered.

"Oh." Emma felt awkward due to the fact that she was Jasmine's age when she got pregnant with Henry, so she decided not to say anything more.

"Hotdogs and hamburgers are done." David said, picking up each link and patty, putting them onto a plate for the center of the table.

"Thank goodness, I'm starving!" Henry exaggerated, being the first to reach across the middle of the table for a hotdog.

"Oh! Be careful, honey!" Regina said loudly.

"They might still be hot!" Both she and David said at the same time before making eye contact.

"Here. Use a fork." Regina reached for a plastic fork when she accidentally knocked over the whole red solo cup full of utensils. Letting out a sigh she apologized to Emma who had had the plastic ware perfectly organized by spoons, knives, and forks. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Mary Margaret said.

"Here. I got it." She immediately began to pick them up as if she were panicking, while Snow grabbed her hand. Calming down a bit, Regina looked into Snow's eyes. "Don't worry about it." She smiled. "I think we've all learned the differences between a fork, a knife, and a spoon by now." She almost laughed, Emma giving her a look that said 'I worked hard on those.' Snow returned a look that said 'They're just plastic utensils, Emma.'

Regina nodded and slowly smiled, letting go of the forks that she had already picked up and leaving them where they had fallen. Snow released her hand and Regina sat back down as David finally made his way to a seat. Awkwardly enough, the only open spot was on the other side of Regina, seeing as the food basket was on the bench beside Mary Margaret.

He began to sit down when Regina gave him a look that he recognized as a look from her altar ego, the Evil Queen, stating that sitting next to her was a bad idea. Then she received a look from him that asked 'Why not?' and she shot her eyes at the woman across the table from her, which meant that it'd be wrong of him not to sit near his betrothed.

Charming set down his plate across from him and stood up, he was about to move the basket to sit next to his wife when she stopped him.

"You can sit there." She noticed the wide-eyed-surprised look she'd gotten from Regina across from her and she looked at her stepmother and smiled lightly. "Go on." She nodded her husband towards the other bench.

He looked at Regina wondering if it was okay and she looked up at him, giving one nod before he sat.

"Alright." He said, clapping his hands when he finally got settled. "Dig in."

Henry, with a fork this time, got himself a hotdog and two burgers, Regina, mentally shaking her head at his manners and then finally thinking to herself to just forget about it and be the cool, relaxed mom for once.


	23. A Small Number Of Dark Clouds

A/N: Here's some Evil Charming fluff for you! Enjoy my OTP! Hahaha! :D Love ya!

After they had all finished eating and Olivia had fallen asleep, Henry thought it'd be a good idea to have everyone play Ultimate Frisbee for a while. The first team consisted of Regina, Aladdin, and, to Regina's dislike, Emma. The second team being Snow, Jasmine, and David. Henry switched back and forth between teams and being the ref, whenever he felt like it.

After about twenty minutes of playing, Regina wanted to take a break so Henry took her spot as she walked over to the table and sat down. She watched and laughed at the craziness of today. Pain hit her every once in a while as she thought of having to bring Jasmine to see her attacker the next day, but she tried to put it passed her so as not to ruin such a fun day.

She hadn't realized that she had been smiling and staring at David for quite some time until he began to walk over, laughing.

"Hey." He said upon approaching the table, breathing heavily from just earning his team a "touchdown."

"Hi." She smiled back when he sat down, joining her in watching the game continue without them.

"What's SHE smiling at?" David asked, referring to Jasmine who was trying to send subtle signals to her mother from the game.

Regina looked at her and sent her a hand gesture saying 'I know, I know. Just let me handle it.'

"We should talk." She said to him, turning to get his full attention.

"About what?" He wondered, taking a sip of lemonade and turning to face her.

"Us."

"I agree." He set down his cup.

"Look, Victor and I-"

"It's okay. You can make the decision. I won't force you to do anything you don't want to."

'Gosh, I love this man.' She thought to herself.

"I know." She smiled, looking down as she tried not to blush. "But I just need you to know the truth."

He looked deeply into her eyes, understanding...and she almost attacked him with kisses just seeing that look from him that she missed so much. The look that said he was truly listening and he wouldn't judge her no matter what she said.

"I need you both to know the truth." She grew more nervous by the second. She paused and looked at the group and Snow playing Frisbee before continuing. "I'm still in love with you."

"What?"

"I love Victor, I do. But I miss you, and I just needed you to know that."

"Seriously?" He asked.

"I know. I know. I'm sorry, but I just had to say it. You can be mad at me all you want, but I just needed you to hear it."

"I'm not mad."

"You're not?" She was truly shocked.

"No."

"Oh." She said awkwardly, looking down at the ground.

"Because I'm still in love with you, too." He admitted.

The second he said it, her head shot back up to look at him as fast as possible, as if she had to make sure it was still David she was talking to.

"Really?"

"Really."

There was a long pause. Just silence, for what seemed like an eternity as they looked into each other's eyes. Finally, David broke the eye contact when he glanced down at her lips, moving in closer for a kiss.

Their noses touched and she stopped herself by putting her hands up to his shoulders to stop him. She almost held him back by his chest, but feeling his muscles through the gray shirt he had on under his familiar flannel, would've caused her to give in and let him kiss her.

"But we can't be together." She said as she slowly and finally opened her eyes after daydreaming that the kiss actually happened.

He let out a loud and upset sigh. He finally opened his eyes now and let his head fall in disappointment.

"The curse. We don't want a reenactment of the day I took away everyone's memories, do we?" She asked, weakly smiling and trying to sound like she was going to laugh, but she flunked at the attempt.

"No. I guess not." He responded, also attempting to fake a laugh, but failing miserably.

They finally realized that she still had her hands on his shoulders and backed away, immediately missing the contact as they both cleared their throats.

David was watching the game as he heard Regina sniff. He looked at her and saw the tears fall from her face and land on her sleek dress pants as she looked down. All he did, all he could do was very slowly reach for her hand and rest his own on top of hers on the bench in between them.

She wanted to pull away, but had no strength to do so.

"Some happy ending, huh?" She said, trying to laugh to keep from crying.

"It's not the end, yet." He said seriously, as she rolled her eyes, looking up at the sky...seeing a very small number of dark clouds form overhead, similar to the rain clouds they'd had this morning. But luckily, no rain had fallen, yet.

"Maybe you should stay with Victor." Charming said, trying to make her feel better, or come up with some sort of solution for a happy ending for her.

"But how am I gonna do that when all I think about is you?" She held back more and more tears.

"Do it for me." He said quietly. "Do it for Olivia...Henry, and Jasmine. All we want is for you to be happy."

She finally looked back at him.

"Promise me you will."

"What?" She sniffed.

"Promise me that you'll try your best to be happy."

She paused, looking at his hand on hers, not wanting to answer.

"Promise." This time he said it more firmly, as if forcing her.

"I promise." She answered very quickly.

They leaned into eachother, touching their foreheads together as they closed their eyes, almost like they were making a wish.

"I love you." David said.

"I love you more." They both smiled at their memories.

"What do you say we get back out there and I kick your butt at some amazing Frisbee?" Regina joked after a moment of silence together.

"Oh, we'll see about that!" He exclaimed playfully as he chased her when she ran away, calling for Henry to pass her the green plastic disk.

She received it from Henry and ran for the endzone as David caught up to her, hugging her at the waist and trying his hardest to pull her down. They all laughed and laughed when they finally both met the earth and layed there, giggling and looking up through the trees as that same very small number of dark clouds rolled away, revealing a large patch of blue sky.

When they finished playing, they all began to pack up, agreeing that now they'd all go for some ice cream. David had his "protective father" talk with Aladdin as they put the heaviest stuff in David's Ford pickup truck. Jasmine insisted on taking care of Olivia as Snow, Emma, and Regina gathered the plastic ware and paper plates. Henry was busy trying to figure out how to fold the tablecloth. When it was obvious that he was struggling, Snow rushed to the other end to help him while giggling at his concentration face.


	24. I Scream For Ice Cream

A/N: This chapter's pretty long, but I just couldn't stop writing. Haha. Hope you enjoy! Mwah!

"I'll take...hmmm..." Henry couldn't seem to choose the flavor he wanted after watching everyone else pick theirs.

"Double Chocolate Fudge?" Snow suggested before he shook his head.

"Cherry Jubilee?" David wondered.

"Nah."

"The Cappuccino Crunch sounds interesting." Jasmine tried to chime in. Aladdin made no suggestions because he was too busy being fascinated by the amount of flavors he was seeing.

"What about the Rocky Road, kid?" Emma asked, putting her arm around his shoulders as they all looked through the glass into the freezer at the variety of flavors.

He looked up at his biological mother and turned his head back to look at the display of ice cream.

"Hmmm..." He continued to think.

"I know." Regina smiled, looking at the clerk behind the counter. "Get him the Chocolate Birthday Cake. In a bowl." She smiled as she reached into her full pocket book to search for her wallet.

"How's that sound?" Emma asked looking down at him. He looked up at her and grinned, nodding.

The clerk reached her hand across the counter, handing the bowl to Regina who took it and handed it to her son, grinning and thinking to herself that she knew him better than anyone here.

"Thank you." Henry smiled quickly taking it from his mother and immediately digging in with his spoon.

"And you?" Ms. Ginger asked Regina from across the glass.

"Sundae with Soft Coffee, please." She said, still trying to find.

"Shall we take a table outside?" Emma asked as she took a lick of her own cone.

"Yeah, let's go!" Aladdin said, extremely excited about this new thing called ice cream. Unfortunately he didn't anticipate that it would melt so quickly, so his cone sat upside down in the bowl that Jasmine got for him.

"Shouldn't we wait for my mom to get her sundae?" Henry asked, licking the spoon.

"You all go on, I'll be out in a moment." She smiled.

They all left except for Snow and Charming. Mary Margaret stopped herself from leaving and she let the door close before walking back over to stand next to her stepmother, David following.

"Go on. I'll be out in a minute." She said, still digging through her purse and finally finding her wallet.

"We can't let you pay for all of this." The optimistic princess said.

"We WON'T let you." David corrected, immediately reaching into his back pocket for his wallet.

Regina had no chance to say no before David already placed the money on the counter in front of Ms. Ginger who took it very quickly after setting Regina's finally finished sundae beaide the money. She counted the money in her hand. Regina was about to hand her her half of the bill when she realized that the woman handed the receipt and change to David.

"Have a nice day!" Ms. Ginger said, causing Regina to realize that David paid foe the whole thing.

"I-" Regina was about to say something to him but he smiled at her and the other two ladies before leaving immediately.

"I was gonna split it, but-"

"Don't worry about it." Snow smiled at her as Regina finished stuffing her wallet back into her bag, placing it over her shoulder.

"Wait." Regina stopped Mary Margaret from leaving. "May I speak with you?" She asked in her low, mayoral voice. Ms. Ginger had gone to the back, leaving the parlor empty besides the two brunettes.

"What is it?" Snow asked.

"You've said that twice today...with the same look on your face. What is it?"

'I'm sorry?" Snow was confused.

"Don't play games with me. Twice today, you've said 'Don't worry about it.' Is there something you need to tell me? I don't-"

"Oh, Regina." The butterflies in her stomach disappeared and she lightly chuckled.

"What is it? Because I-"

"Regina!" Snow interrupted. "It's nothing. I'm just...I see that you've changed and...I guess it's just my way of saying...I forgive you and..."

"And what?"

There was a slight pause.

"I know that you still love David."

"Snow, I-"

"No, no, no. It's okay. I see it in your eyes." She smiled again. "I see it in his, too.."

Regina felt somewhat sorry for all of this happening...But ahe didn't know why...David was hers in the first place. Snow took him from her, but she still felt sorry. Had she really changed more than she realized?

"When I say 'Don't worry about it. ' I guess I'm referring to you and David."

"Snow. I don't mean to-"

"I guess we've been over for a while." Snow confessed

"What?"

"We still love eachother, but we're not in love anymore...The last seven months have been nothing but boredom between us."

"It has?" Regina asked with remorse and a monotonous voice.

"Oir whole relationship has been thrilling because it's been us trying to find eachother and get away from-"

"Me." Regina said, awkwardly looking down and away.

"Well, we've been doing that for so long, we haven't had a chance to truly spend tome together...and during the last seven months...it's been thrill-free and I don't feel the spark anymore."

"I suppose this is my fault." Regina said, regretless, but joyless as well.

"No. It would've ended eventually."

"But he's your true love." The former mayor tried to justify.

"He's yours too...and it'd be awfully selfish of me to keep your love from you again. It's time that YOU had your best chance." Snow smiled, a tear falling down her cheek.

Regina had no response, but as a reflex, her hand reached up and wiped away Snow's tear.

"Now, let's go before our sundaes melt." Snow said, picking up Regina's bowl and handing it to her, before leaving as Regina followed.

They all enjoyed their ice creams and had small talk before it finally came up.

"Jasmine, I need to ask you something." Regina said as she bounced Olivia at the table outside.

"What is it?" She asked, sitting close to Aladdin as he put his arm around her shoulder.

"I need to know who he is."

Jasmine's smile relaxed, knowing exactly who she meant. She also knew that she'd eventually have to tell them. She sighed as everyone looked at her, waiting for the answer.

"His name...is Jafar. We were to be married in Agrabah if I couldn't find my own husband...He grew angry when Aladdin and I said that we'd get married. He was already evil and powerful, but when we pretended we were in love to get me out of it, he decided he'd do anything to get power and have me for his wife. My flying carpet saved me when it brought me to another land and I've traveled to many realms trying to get away from him. I thought I was finally free of him when I came here...but I was wrong."

"It's okay, Jasmine." Aladdin said as he held her closer to him for comfort.

"It's weird, though." She said as if she was realizing something.

"What is?" Snow asked sadly.

"I never thought I'd actually like him." She said teasing Aladdin as he lightly laughed.

"Jasmine." Regina began, the only one not chuckling a little at the couple. "Do you know any way to defeat him?"

"I don't know. But I do know that he's more powerful when he has cobra walking stick."

"Ha!" Regina laughed once at how obsurd that sounded, shaking her head.

"It's true." Aladdin said. "It's stronger than you think."

"Well," David started. "Why do you ask, Regina?"

Her smirk faded. "He-He called me."

"What?"

"What?"

"What?!"

"When!?" David wondered, not realizing he stood up.

"This morning."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Jasmine asked.

"I didn't want to scare you, but-"

"But what? What dis he say?"

"He said that we need to meet him at the docks tomorrow morning or...he'll hurt Olivia."

"No way." Aladdin said.

"Out of the question." David exclaimed.

"You can't!" Emma reaponded.

"We don't have a choice." Regina said, a little annoyed.

"No, it's too dangerous if you go." Snow said.

"It's too dangerous if we don't go." Regina retorted.

"No. We have to go." Jasmine said, knowingly.

"But-" Aladdin began.

"We have to...It's the only way to save Olivia."

"How do we know that's true?" Emma asked.

"Because he won't hurt a baby if he doesn't have to." Jasmine answered. "I know him more than you think. He may be a monster, but he only does what he has to to get what he wants...and if we do what he wants, he won't hurt Olivia."

"But-"

"It's okay. I'll have to face him someday."

"Jasmine...are you sure you're ready?" David asked protectively as he finally sat back down.

"Yes. I shouldn't run from my fears anymore. Plus, I've decided that as long as I'm surrounded by the love I have now, I should be okay." She smiled at Regina and then she looked up at Aladdin as she grabbed Henry's hand beside her and held it.

Regina just stared at her for a moment before standing up.

"Here." She unexpectedly put Olivia in David's arms and walked away from the table as they all watched her leave.

"I should go-"

"It's okay, David. I got it." Jasmine said standing up and walking over to her. "Hey."

Regina put her head down and Jasmine realized she was angry and trying to stop herself from crying tears of frustration.

"What is it?"

The queen just shook her head.

"Is it David? Victor?"

"No. It's not them. It's me." She looked at the teen with sorrow-filled eyes. "I'm sorry, Jasmine." Her head lowered once again.

"For what?"

"For having to do this. Having to take you there."

"It's okay, really."

"But you're scared. I can see it and I hate having to force this upon you."

"You're not forcing anything upon me...Besides, what should I be afraid of when I've got you there with me."

Regina looked back up to her and saw her brave smile.

"Hey," Jasmine adorably scrunched her nose and put her hand on Regina's arm. "We've got this." She squinted her eyes, causing Regina to realize how similar they were at times and she nodded, gently smiling. "So, did you tell David?" Jasmine changed the subject.

"Yes...and Snow."

"Really?" An impressed young lady exclaimed.

"Really."

"And what'd they say?"

"David loves me, too."

"They BOTH said that?"Jasmine couldn't help but grin widely.

"Yes."

"Well? Why do you look so upset?"

"Because, Jasmine. We can't be together. It'll just happen exactly the way it did before. You wouldn't know, becau-"

"Yes, I would."

"What?"

"I do know. I was there."

"Where?"

"I saw the whole thing. That was my first day here."

"How did-Really?"

"Yes. And Rumpelstiltskin made a potion so that we remembered."

Regina had no response.

"Hey, it'll all work out. I know it." Jasmine smiled and Regina looked back at David holding Olivia. She turned and smiled back at Jasmine.

"Come on." Jasmine nodded her head toward the table, taking Regina's hand and leading her back over to the others.

Regina sat back down beside David as she fabulously flipped her hair out of her face with a little whip of her head. She turned to look at David and smiled at him. He tried to hand Olivia back to her but she put her hand up, properly to stop him.

"You can keep her, David."

He paused. "Thank you." He smiled at his baby girl.

"Are you gonna move over?" Jasmine asked Aladdin as she stood by his seat, waiting for him to let her through to her chair.

He looked at the chair next to him and then back up to her, shaking his head no with a large grin on his face.

"There are no seats here." He teased.

"My chair's right there." She raised an eyebrow, smirking. "But you're in the way."

He shrugges his shoulders. "Oh well." He turned his head away from her and continued to talk to Henry.

"Looks like you asked for it." She joked.

Aladdin was caught off-guard when she decided to just sit on his lap. At first he just looked up at her, but soon he got comfortable and put his arms around her waist from behind. When she realized he was enjoying it, she realized she had easier access to climb over him and sit in her chair, so she did. Then she moved her chair away from him, causing him to groan sadly. She looked at him as he ridiculously pouted his lower lip at her with puppy dog eyes.

She looked to her right at Henry and they laughed before she moved her chair back to where it was, holding Aladdin's hand once she did.

"Aw. Look at you two." Snow said.

"And to think just this morning you were at eachother's throats." David said as he rocked Olivia in his arms.

"You were?" Emma wondered.

"Well, not really. We just argue a lot." Jasmine justified.

"Well, when you call me names-"

"Hey. You like it and you know it." Jasmine said as they each teasingly got in eachother's faces, her nose scrunched as he admired her with a smile.

"Jasmine!" Regina gave her a disapproving look, as she thought that they were being inappropriate in front of Henry.

"What?" She asked looking at her. "Back in Agrabah when we first met, he had a fake identity and his genie gave him the name Ali Ababwa, so I call him that."

"But it annoys me and she knows that."

"But you don't care when it's me who calls you that." She said.

"Oh yeah?" He smiled.

"Mhm." She scrunched her nose again.

"Who told you that?"

"No one. I just know."

"Oh. Okay." He nodded looking at David across the table, almost winking at him.

"I'm right." She bragged and looked away from him and at her mother who couldn't help but laugh along with the other adults.

"You fight like a married couple already." Emma said, somewhat astounded.

"Hey. Don't rush things." Regina said. "They haven't even had their first date yet."

"I guess we should take care of that, shouldn't we?" Aladdin smiled. "Hey Jasmine, wanna go on a date tonight?"

"Love to." She answered quickly as if she were attempting to get something off of her bucket list.

"Piece of cake." Henry laughed before looking at Regina. He's seen that look before. The look of sadness because her child was growing up too fast. But he also saw light in her eyes. She was happy for Jasmine...and worried for tomorrow.

A/N: Some truth came out in this chapter...but Evil Charming fluff is to come! ;P Can't wait!


	25. Scared

A/N: Hey. Sorry it's been so long. I'm visiting my Dad in a different state so I haven't had much writing time. I hope you like this one.

"I'm so happy that you decided to stay here." Regina smiled as she opened the front door to her mansion for her son.

"Me too!" He said excitedly.

"What do you wanna do?" She asked, closing the door behind her.

"Let's play Battleship!" He answered, looking around at the house, almost forgetting what it had looked like within the months he had stayed with the Charmings. It was nice to be in a bigger space. Seven months spent crammed into such a small place with four people did get to be a bit much.

He had forgotten how quiet it was in the mayor's home. The memories of his lonesome with the book of fairytales made his stomach turn thinking about how even more lonely his mother might've been with one less person there.

"Sure." Regina had never been more excited to play with him.

"It's up in my room. I'll go get it." He yelled as he ran up the stairs.

"Okay." She shouted back up to him, watching him run happily through the house. She walked into the family room to wait for him and she set Olivia's carseat down on the coffee table before sitting down on the couch to relax.

She took a deep breath as she leaned forward and took Olivia out of the seat and held her tightly to her chest, keeping her safe.

Suddenly, she heard a crash come from upstairs.

"Henry?!" She yelled, making sure he wasn't hurt. "Are you okay up there?!" There was no answer. "Henry!" Silence.

It suddenly grew dark as a flash of lightening struck and thunder followed, causing her to stand up and quickly spin around to look out the window, holding Olivia close to her. She slowly walked towards the window and looked out into the front yard. A powerline was struck right at that moment and her lights went out as it began to rain.

"Henry!" She yelled once more, desperate for an answer.

She heard one more loud noise causing her to quickly run up the stairs to see what was going on. The first room she went into was Henry's, slowly pushing open the door and saying his name once more.

Forgetting that the power was out, the woman switched the lights on and off twice, realizing that they weren't going to turn on.

Another strike of lightening hit and lit the whole room, causing her to see a tall dark figure in the corner neer the window. She gasped and slowly began to back away as it grew dark again.

"Where's Henry?" No answer. "What did you do with him?" She yelled.

"I did nothing with him." The figure answered in a raspy voice. "YOU did."

"What?" She continued to back away as the shadow pointed to her. "I would never hurt my son."

"Of course you would. You DID."

"No." She protested.

"Yes. You're evil. That's what you do."

"I've changed." She retorted.

"Keep telling yourself that. No one believes it. Especially him."

"Jafar, he loves me."

"Mom?!" She heard the voice of Henry from downstairs.

"Henry?!" She yelled before leaving Jafar in her son's room.

"Mom!"

"Henry, where are you?" She screamed as she reached the bottom step, being careful not to fall while holding Olivia.

"We're in here!" He yelled from the family room in front of the fireplace.

"We?!" She wondered upon arriving. She immediately stopped in her tracks before barely seeing them. It was too dark and she saw two figures, one she could definitely make out as Henry, and the other, she had no clue.

As she walked around the front of the couch to join Henry kneeling on the ground, she waved her hand at the fireplace, using magic to start a fire. As soon as she looked down at her son, she dropped to her knees, seeing a wet, wounded Jasmine laying at her feet before she went down.

She had clearly been out in the rain, and Regina saw that she had some trouble breathing. There was a whole in her stomach that looked like it had come from a blade, but no blood...no blade.

"Mama-" She tried to speak but couldn't.

"Jasmine, what happened?"

"Mom!" Henry interrupted as he stared at her.

"What?" She asked before looking down, seeing blood drip down her hand. 'Where did that come from?', she wondered. Then she saw...

Olivia was bleeding through her back and to her stomach, in the same spot Jasmine was wounded.

"Who did this?" Regina asked, trying to stop the bleeding on her baby girl.

She looked up and saw Jafar standing at the side of Jasmine's head. He slowly lifted an arm, pointing it at her.

"How is this MY fault?!"

He shook his head and magically disappeared.

"I never meant for any of this to happen!" She yelled.

"Well, it did!" She heard a voice from behind her.

She turned around and saw the Charmings and Victor standing there.

"And look what it cost you!" Victor said.

"Your daughter." Snow said.

"And OUR daughter." David cried before kneeling beside her and taking a dead Olivia from her. She turned her head as if in shame and she saw that Jasmine was dead, too. But Henry was no longer kneeling beside her. She stood up and turned to see that he was standing by Emma.

With Swan's arm around his shoulder, and David holding their deceased infant, everyone walked around the couch and towards the front door to leave her alone.

"Wait!" She cried out. "Henry! You can't leave me!"

He looked as though he was going to cry having to choose, when suddenly Jafar magicked behind her with a knife, grabbing her and putting his blade up to her throat.

"Mom!" Henry yelled from where he stood.

At first, she felt afraid...then sad that her son had to see this...then all she felt was the sharp blade cutting through her skin and he let her fall to the ground next to her teen daughter's body.

"Mom!...Mom!...Mom!" Henry's voice began to echo as she drifted away.

"Mom!" Henry yelled.

"Henry!" She screamed as he jerked her awake.

"You fell asleep." He said, holding the box of 'Battleship' by his side.

"Just resting my eyes." She rubbed an eye as he began to set up the board next to Olivia's carseat and got ready for 'battle.'

"I had a great time tonight." Aladdin said as he walked Jasmine up the stairs to the entrance of Granny's Motel after their first date.

"Oh. You had a GREAT time, did you?" She smiled as if to tease him.

"I did." He laughed. "What about you?"

"Surprisingly..." She looked up and to the left pensively just as they approached the front door. "I did."

They finally made it to the door and they each stopped and turned to look at eachother before going in. Neither of them knew what to say for a few seconds.

"Are you scared?" Aladdin asked her.

"For what?"

"Tomorrow...seeing Jafar."

"Only a little...I'm more angry with him now than scared." She answered as he kept inching closer and closer to her extremely slowly. "But I think as long as we have Regina on our team, we can defeat him."

"You think so?" He asked, their chests now touching, cauaing butterflies to form in her stomach.

"I do."

"Why are you angry with him?"

"For what he did to me...for threatening Olivia and my mother." Her eyes teared up slightly and he gently caressed her cheek with his thumb.

"From now on...he won't touch you." He almost whispered. His thumb still rubbed against her soft skin and his eyes shifted between both of her brown orbs.

She weakly smiled up at him and he smiled back before she looked down at the ground and he let go of her, but none of them backed away, until...

"Well, hello you two." They heard David's voice say as he walked up the pathway towards Granny's. Now was when they lost the contact and each smiled at the man carrying a medium sized black duffle bag.

"Hey, David. What are you doing here?" Jasmine wondered.

"Snow and I had a talk and we thought it'd be best if we didn't stay together for a little while."

"So you're staying here?" Aladdin asked when he finally met the two on the porch.

"I don't really have another place to stay." He said.

"What about my mom's?" Jasmine asked.

"I don't think it's the right time yet...plus, I think Victor was there. I thought I saw his car."

There was an awkward silence before they all decided to go inside. David got his room and Jasmine and Aladdin told David their goodbyes before they went into Jasmine's already reserved room and David went to his. As he looked back at Aladdin, he gave him a look that the young man knew told him to remember the chat they had earlier that day before he walked into the room with Jasmine.

A/N: Please review! Review! Review! Heehee! Love you guys and thanks for your patience with my really long plotlines. haha!


	26. Hard Is Right Here

A/N: Thank yo so much for your patience. Just got back from my Dad's and I had an audition for a short film right when I returned. I got the lead and I start tomorrow, and filming goes to October, so updates may be a little slower, but I promise to never ever forget about you guys! Love you all! Please leave your reviews! Mwah!

"Jasmine! Jasmine, wake up!"

"Mama." The teen said sleepily as she slowly opened her eyes, seeing that the clock on her dresser said 7:17.

"It's time to go." Regina said leaning over her daughter's side of the bed in Granny's motel room.

Jasmine groaned frustratedly and turned over so she'd face away from her mother and moved closer to Aladdin next to her. Suddenly, feeling the boy's touch, Jasmine's eyes shot open in shock, realizing what her mother must be thinking.

"Jasmine." The woman in black stood up tall and crossed her arms. "Let's go." She tore the blankets off of Jasmine just as her daughter sat up nervously.

"Regina-"

"There's no time for chitchat. We need to meet Jafar at the docks at 7:30." Jasmine just stared at her mother for a second before Regina raised her voice, unfolding her arms. "Now!"

Jasmine stood up and went into the bathroom to change as quickly as possible.

Regina was uncomfortably silent on their walk to the docks and Jasmine had a hard time keeping up as her mother sauntered so fast that she almost jogged.

"Where's Olivia?" Jasmine asked, almost out of breath from the rushing. "Is she safe?"

"I left her with Victor."

"Victor? What abo-"

"David and the precious Snow White are there as well. Along with the so-called Savior and my son." She sped up and Jasmine could sense her hostility. "Your brother." She said a litrle softer, as if attempting to correct herself.

"Regina? Regina, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong. We just need to focus on stopping Jafar. Whatever his plan may be."

"No. That's not it. There's something else, isn't there?"

Regina did not respond.

"Regina..." Still no answer. "Mother!"

Suddenly, she stopped walking.

"Look," Jasmine finally said after a moment of silence. "I know what you might be thinking-"

"Really? And what might that be?" Regina raised an eyebrow. This was a tone of voice Jasmine had never heard before. A tone that Snow White, and anyone else who had ever encountered the Evil Queen in the Enchanted Forest would know all too well.

"Nothing happened." Jasmine tried to justify.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean, Jasmine." The woman said in her original mayoral voice.

"Come on. We both know that you very well do. And trust me, nothing happened."

"Well, I assure you it's none of my business." Regina said, not making eye contact.

"Yes, it is. You're my mother and you deserve to know."

"You said that nothing happened. So what is it I deserve to know?"

"That something COULD'VE happened. We got back from the date last night an-"

"I can't hear this." Regina tried to walk away, but Jasmine grabbed her shoulders to stop her.

"But! But nothing did happen, because-" She looked down and Regina's expression softened as she looked down at her daughter. "Because I was afraid." She lifted her head once more as if she were ashamed.

"That's alright." Regina gently smiled and put her hand softly under Jasmine's chin. "With everything you've gone through, there's no need to feel bad about that. And I'm sure Aladdin understood." She took her hand down from her chin and mumbled to herself, but loud enough for Jasmine to hear. "And if he didn't then he doesn't deserve you."

"No, he did." Jasmine tried to win her mother's smile back. "He did." She won the sweet, approving grin back in an instant. "And, I'm still hurting a little." Regina could tell Jasmine felt embarrassed.

"I know." She whispered. "It took me more than a few days to heal when it happened to me as well." The queen gently held on to both of Jasmine's cheeks and placed a motherly kiss to her forehead. Jasmine held her mother's wrists as she felt warmth in her heart while she closed her eyes during the kiss and they lightly smiled at eachother.

"Now let's go before the 'almighty' Jafar loses his temper." Regina said as she took her daughter's hand and they continued to walk, this time at a more reasonable pace for the both of them.

*One Hour Later*

"So...What happened between you two last night?" David glared at Victor in the living room of the mayoral mansion on Mifflin Street.

"David." Emma felt the tension in the room and Mary Margaret looked back and forth between the two men who stood across from eachother.

"None of your concern." Victor ignored the sheriff.

"Oh, really?" Charming seemed to forget about the others in the room.

"Really." Victor held back a smirk.

"We'll see about that!" David yelled as he ran toward the doctor, almost knocking over the bowl of apples that sat in the middle of the coffee table in the center of the room.

"You're sure this is a good idea?" Aladdin asked as he followed Jasmine and Regina up the walkway to the mansion.

"It's what he wants. I say we get it as Mr. Gold thinks of a better plan." Regina said as they stopped outside of her door.

"How do you know he'll have a plan?" Jasmine wondered.

"He's the Dark One...He always has a plan." She replied.

"Do you think it'll work?" Aladdin asked.

"It has to." The queen answered.

Suddenly, they heard shouting from inside and they ran in as fast as possible.

"Yes, well she's MY daughter!" They heard David yell when they caught the sight of Emma holding back a bleeding Victor and Snow stood in front of Charming, trying to get Dr. Whale out of his reach.

"Well, where have you been through the pregnancy, huh?!" Victor pointed back.

"Guys!" Emma yelled.

"Enough!" The four turned to see Regina standing in front of Jasmine and Aladdin in the doorway, causing the two men to stop struggling against the women who were attempting to restrain them. "What has gotten into you?"

All four began shouting at once to tell their sides of the story, both Victor and David blaming eachother.

"This is ridiculous!" Regina yelled, which caused them all to hush once again.

"Well, HE started it!" Both men yelled at once.

"Yeah? Well, I'm about to finish it." She said. They each received a terrifying Evil Queen look and calmed down immediately. "Right after I check on my daughter.." She said softer, before immediately raising her voice once more. "...Since it seems that all YOU two care about is fighting over me, when right now our main problem is Jafar." She gave them one last glare before turning towards the stairs.

Before she could ascend to them, she looked up and saw her son, barely awake, coming down.

"Mom? What's going on?" He asked, rubbing an eye with one hand and holding a tired Olivia in the other.

"Nothing, dear." She quickly smiled and ran up the stairs to take Olivia from him.

"Did we wake her?" David grew concerned.

"What do you think, Prince?!" Victor snarled, wiping away blood at the corner of his lips and receiving a nasty look from Charming that the doctor saw in the corner of his eye.

"She's fine." Regina said angrily after smiling at her baby girl.

After bouncing her for a little bit, she handed Olivia to her big sister and calmly told Jasmine and Aladdin to take Henry and the baby into the kitchen to wait for a quick breakfast.

As soon as they were out of sight, Regina looked down at the floor behind their heels and scouled before slowly turning and looking up at the four adults.

"Regina," Victor began as she walked up to him. "...we-" he was cut off by a hard slap to the face and David couldn't help but smirk.

But, he wasn't smirking long before she turned to him and slapped him as well.

"What is the matter with you two?" She said almost in a whisper as if trying to stay quiet so the kids couldn't hear. "All three of my children are in danger and all you can think about is yourselves?"

"Reggi-"

"I'm not finished!" She interrupted Victor. "I sent you over here...ALL of you," She looked over to David and her eyes accidentally moved to Emma, followed by Snow. "...because I thought I could trust you to watch after the two children that I KNOW we can still save and you're fighting over who can have me?"

"Regina, we-"

"David!" She said through gritted teeth as she sharply rolled only her eyes to him as she kept her head in turned in Victor's direction.

He stopped right away and guiltily put his head down.

She moved her eyes back to Victor and began to speak softly. "We had this talk last night."

Victor now had his head down and he slowly nodded. "I know, I'm sorry. It's just...harder than I thought."

"Oh, you wanna know what hard is?" She returned back to being a bit snarky, but she was even more quiet than before. "Hard is having to choose between your children." Her eyes teared up and the other four looked at her in shock. "That's right. I have to decide whether I let Jasmine go with Jafar, or Henry and Olivia die."

"What? How-" Snow began.

"We need to give him Jasmine and her father's lamp, or he may hurt ANYONE else. So you think you know what hard is? It's right here, standing in front of you." She gestured toward herself as her voice cracked and a few tears escaped her deep brown orbs.

"Mom, I forgot where you keep the..." Henry slowed down his speech and his walking as he entered the room, seeing his mother's back and the looks she was receiving from the other four adults. He realized she wiped away tears before turning around with a weak smile.

"Yes, Henry?" She said in an upbeat voice.

He wasn't sure if he should reask the question even though he tried to return a smile of his own, but all that came out was a look of concern.

"I forgot where the pancake mix is."

"I'll be there in a minute." She smiled at him and he just stood there. "Go on."

He hesitated, but decided to return to the kitchen so they could finish their talk and she turned back around to the others.

"I'm gonna go to the office and get what I need. Mary Margaret, I trust you can help them with breakfast?"

Snow slightly nodded.

"The pancake mix is on the top shelf of the pantry in the back. David, I think you'll have to get that since you're the only one who'll be able to reach it. "

"What about me?" Victor asked, referring to the fact that he's just as tall as Charming.

"You're coming with me because I don't trust you two together in front of the children at the moment."

"But-"

"No buts. Let's go."

"But Regina, what about Jafar? What if he-" Emma had to stop herself because she realized she was talking too loudly and the others might be able to hear. "What if he comes here?" She whispered.

"Don't worry about that. We have an agreement that he does not touch anyone until noon. IF he doesn't have the lamp by then. But...he will. And we must meet him on Main Street with it and Jasmine if we want everyone to be safe." She stopped and thought of Jasmine as she lowered her head sadly. "Well, almost everyone."


	27. Agreement

A/N: This one gets a little interesting. Hope you like it! :D Thanks for your continued support. Mwah!

*Last Night*

"Victor...Come on in." Regina seemed off and Dr. Whale didn't understand why.

He knew that they hadn't spoken all day because of their fight at Granny's the night before, but he had a bad feeling when she called him so late at night. She'd sounded eerie on the other end, but he knew that she must've needed him when she said that Henry was sleeping over and they could talk now that he was asleep.

"What's going on, Reggi?" He asked as he stepped passed her and she closed the door. "I'm sorry about the other night. I just get so jealous around David. Especially when I know he's Olivia's real father, and-"

"I know, Victor. This is what we need to talk about...Come here." She gestured for him to follow her and they sat near the bottom of the staircase. They sat so close and each loved the warm contact. Regina held his left hand in both of hers on his knee, knowing that this was going to be even more difficult than she'd expected.

"I love you, Regina." He looked into her eyes.

"And I love you, very very much."

"But?" He knew there had to be a 'but' by the tone of her voice.

There was a pause. "I still love David." She answered slowly.

He pulled his hand out of hers and moved away from her so they were no longer touching. He chuckled and shook his head.

"What?" She didn't understand why he laughed.

"I just don't get you, Regina."

He stood up and she looked up to him, feeling some remorse and a sort of wonder for she had never met anyone who"got her" but had tried to. She was beginning to think that Victor was the only one who DID get her, and now she wondered why he hadn't.

"You've spent your whole adult life and the end of your teen life losing men and being betrayed by them. You finally found a man who you believed loved you and he left you for the girl who had your first True Love killed and-"

"David loves me." She said quietly.

Victor became more aggressive and passionate about his words as he began to talk with his hands and continually pointed to one side of the house as if he were pointing at David down the street.

"He loves you?! Regina, he's playing with you. He's had so many opportunities to be with you and sweep you off your feet like the 'charming' man he's supposed to be yet you're sitting here on the bottom steps of your house, a single mother after going through a tough adoption with Henry and a dangerous pregnancy where no one was there for you but me...And you still choose him?! Regina, you can't even be with him because of the Dark Curse that YOU casted so that HE wouldn't be happy."

"You keep your voice down!" She now stood. He had moved to the floor in front of the staircase sometime during his venting speech and she stood taller than him now as she stayed on the third step in her black heels.

"What are you gonna do?" He ignored her. "Are you gonna go on living alone? Because you can't be with him without killing everyone in town, but you can't be with me because you're always thinking about him!"

"Be quiet!" She whispered sharply. "Henry is upstairs sleeping and this may be my only night with him for a long time in the future." She said with frustration.

She wasn't frustrated with him for almost waking her son though. No. The truth was she was frustrated because he was right.

"See, that's the other thing." Victor continued his rant. "You raised Henry through the toughest years as a mother and all of a sudden here comes the 'Savior' who is, in fact, your 'Charming's' daughter and even after getting his memories back, he didn't help you out with the custody agreement. He just went along with taking him from you even though he KNEW you had nothing left. And STILL...You choose him over me!"

"Victor! Listen to me!"

"No! You listen to me!"

"No! I've heard enough!"

"There never is enough with you!"

"Oh, yeah?!"

"Yeah, because you're the still the stubborn Evil Queen that I know you to be."

"Really?!"

"And you don't listen to anyone and it's time you heard what you needed to hear!"

"Yeah?! And what's that?" She asked angrily, tears welling up in her dark eyes.

"That you deserve better than what you've got!"

Suddenly, all at once they slammed their lips together in a passionate kiss, she was still on the third step, taller than him as the tears fell down her cheeks and she wrapped her arms around him slowly and sensually. His hands moved down her body, making their way to her hips and he untucked her blouse from her straight, black dress pants. Her hands moved to his top button as she began to undo his shirt.

*Next Morning*

"Why, exactly, are we going to your office?" Victor asked as they left the mansion.

"Because, the lamp is there and we need to get it bef-" She halted her speech as they heard her phone ring.

She picked it up to answer.

"What? No! That's a suicidal plan! She-"

Regina paused to listen.

"You're using what?!" She listened again. There was a look of pure anger and fear on her face and it was almost as if the Evil Queen had come back one hundred percent.

"How can we be sure that it'll-" She was cut off and Victor moved closer to her from behind as if he were attempting to listen to the person on the other end.

"Fine." She hung up and placed the phone back in her coat pocket. "Gold."

"What did he want?" Victor asked.

She ignored him and continued to walk down her pathway to her black Mercedes Benz. He followed close next to her.

As soon as they got into the car and Regina had her keys in the ignition, Victor asked one more time.

"What did he want? Does he have a plan?"

"Yes, but it's not guaranteed to work." She pulled out of the driveway and headed toward the mayor's office as he sat in the passenger seat confused.

*Last Night*

Regina moaned softly as she made it to Victor's bottom button and he finally finished unbuttoning her blouse as well.

Keeping their eyes closed, Victor picked her up off of the top step and held her as if he were carrying her over the threshold after being just married.

He carried her into the living room and set her down on the couch, sitting beside her. They continued their kissing as he removed her shirt, revealing her dark purple bra and she felt his warm hands on her bare shoulders.

She rubbed her hands on his shoulders underneath his unbuttoned shirt before beginning to remove his as well.

Suddenly, she opened her eyes, realizing who he was and stopped, his shirt near to his forearms. She remembered that he was not David...who she had guiltily began thinking about as soon as Victor picked her up.

"Wait! We can't do th-I can't do this!" She moved away from him, grabbing her shirt from the floor and quickly putting it on, not even bothering to fasten more than one button. She sat in the corner of the couch, as far away from him as possible. Her hand covered her mouth while she fought back tears and looked away from him.

Only seeing the side of her head, he pulled his shirt back over his shoulders and buttoned it before moving closer to her.

"No." She took her hand off her mouth and put it in front of him. "Don't come any closer. It'll just make things more difficult."

"Reggi, I-"

"We can't be together, Victor. I'm sorry." She finally looked at him.

"But-"

"I know, I know. And you're right about everything you just said, but it's just that...I can't ever get David off my mind and being with you, while thinking of him...I don't wanna hurt you like that." She lowered her head and he just stared at her for a moment.

He finally broke the silence and moved back away from her. "But you're hurting me NOW." He replied softly and hurt.

She looked back up into his eyes apologetically. "I'm so sorry." Her voice cracked on 'so' as a tear left her eye and landed on her hand when she moved to wipe it away.

He wiped away his own tear and changed his position on the couch so he sat forward, facing the fireplace. Then he looked at the floor and couldn't help but smile.

She sniffled and looked at him. Finally seeing his small smile, she asked him. "Why are you smiling?"

His smile vanished when she spoke and he looked back over to her.

"I'm just thinking of all our good memories in this room." He smiled again and she did also. "Our first home checkup, the first time I stayed for dinner and we ate apple pie here with Jasmine, when you gave birth to Olivia." And he frowned once more, causing her to as well.

He looked down and it was silent for a very long time. "I'm sorry." He finally said. "I didn't mean to make you feel bad, I just-I'm gonna miss what we had...It was good for a while...Wasn't it?"

"Yeah." She lightly grinned at him. "Yeah, it was."

They both returned to looking at the empty fireplace, feeling empty themselves.

After a while, Regina fell asleep with her legs in Victor's lap and he slowly moved them to stand and take her up to her room. When he placed her in the bed, tucked her under her blankets, and kissed her on the forehead, she slowly opened her eyes as he began to leave.

She gently reached out and held his hand, causing him to turn and look back to her.

"Promise me one thing." She sleepily whispered.

He hesitated. "Yeah?"

"No more fighting over me with David. Okay?"

He thought about it and knew ahead of time that it sure as hell wouldn't be easy, but he wanted her to be happy and he knew that she wouldn't be unless he agreed.

"I promise." He turned to leave but she didn't let go of his hand.

"Stay here tonight." She said slowly, her eyes still closed.

He really didn't want to. Especially if she was thinking of David.

"Please, Victor. Stay."

He gave in when she said his name, her eyes still closed, making him realize that she knew exactly who he was and that comforted him. So he couldn't refuse and he crawled into the bed next to her.

That was the easiest he's fallen asleep sober in a long time.


	28. Follow The Lady

*Today*

"So, Mr. Gold is going to make this...Pandora's Box look like Sydney's lamp and Jasmine is gonna trap him inside it?" Victor asked as they walked into Regina's old office.

"Yes, but first, we have to make sure Jafar has no idea what the plan is, so shh." Regina rolled her eyes when she began searching through her desk.

"I thought you moved all of your stuff out of here." Victor said, looking around the empty room.

"I did, but I left my secrets in here. Only I can find them." She smiled when she took out a small, wooden apple about the size of a golf ball.

"What the hell is that?" Victor asked.

"I have a safe in here and this is the key to open it." She said simply, lifting it up to examine it. When she found the small button on one side of it, she pushed it, causing the top half of the apple to separate from the bottom half.

Regina slowly removed the top of the apple and inside stood a small needle that pertruded from the center of it. Victor walked closer to get a better look while Regina grinned at her handy work.

"THAT'S the key?" The curious doctor asked. "How does it work?"

"It's a blood spell. Only I can open it." She smiled once more.

"How?"

"Like this." To demonstrate, Regina pricked her finger on the needle and when the blood began to make its way to the surface of her skin, she squeezed it and the blood dropped onto the flat of the apple that lay underneath the needle.

The second it hit, they heard a click in the wall ahead of them, revealing a small opening to the hidden safe. Victor followed Regina over to it and she opened the safe on the finger palate with her bleeding digit. When the door opened, it revealed Regina's significant morsels, such as her mother's book of magic, small potion bottles of squid ink and who knows what else. But inside, among her other possessions, was the genie's lamp that she kept for so many years. She kept it as a symbol of freedom and a reminder that she could control Sydney.

Regina reached in and took it before closing the safe and magicking the small apple back together and replacing it where she took it from her desk.

"Do you think you can handle it?" Regina asked her daughter when she told her the plan of switching the lamp with Pandora's Box. They stood in Gold's Shop before noon, wishing and hoping that the plan would work.

"I think so, yeah." Jasmine answered.

"Where's Olivia?" Mary Margaret asked, looking around the store to see if anyone had her.

"She's safe." Regina answered, not telling them that she had locked Granny and the baby in her mausoleum. She dared not say with Jafar out there somewhere.

"Shall we go over the plan one more time before we leave?" Rumple asked the group.

"I meet him with the lamp and when he's not paying attention, you perform that spell. What's it called? Follow the Lady?" Jasmine said.

"Yes. And it'll switch the lamp that you have with Pandora's Box in Belle's bag. All you have to do, is open it and it'll pull him in."

"How do I open it?"

"With magic. You just need to wave your hand over it, like this." The Dark One demonstrated it on the real lamp.

"I don't think I can. I've never used that kind of magic before."

Regina grabbed her shoulders from behind and turned her around to face her. She bent over slightly so she was at eye level with her daughter. "You have it in you. You can do it."

Jasmine thought for a moment, suddenly feeling extremely nervous and nauseous. "I don't know. This is a bad plan. I can't-"

"Yes you can."

"No, I can't. I don't know much about your kind of magic. All I have are these wishes I can make. I wasn't there for you to teach me. This plan's not gonna work."

Regina stood up straight again and looked at Gold as she thought for a moment. "Couldn't I do it?" She asked him.

"You'll be too far away from the box."

"I'll get closer." She said as if it were that simple. Rumple just looked at her as if she knew what he were thinking. "Look, I can magic myself behind him when he's looking at Jasmine and I'll open it then."

He thought for a moment. "Fine. But you only get one shot, dearie." He said as he handed the genie's lamp to Jasmine.

"It's 11:56. You almost didn't make it." Jafar said as if this were a game.

"Yeah. Well, we did." Regina sneered.

"Rumple, my old teacher. What do you think you're doing with these fools?" Jafar said friendly.

"None of your concern, Jafar."

"Huh. Well, it would be like you to-"

"We're not here for chitchat." Jasmine said, annoyed.

"Oh. I see someone's grown some courage in the last few days."

"Let's just get this over with." Regina said.

"Yes. Fine. Do you have what I need?"

"Yes, but first, you must never hurt anyone in this town again." Jasmine answered. "You may do whatever you want with me, but no one else."

"Well, then what's the point of having power? Hmm...Speaking of...I think it's too empty here. I think that the whole town should be here to see this so they can get to know their future ruler. Don't you?"

Jasmine's eyes widened. What did he mean by having power? He lifted his cobra walking stick high in the air before slamming it to the concrete road. Sparks of red magic flowing out from underneath it. When they looked around them, everyone in the town had been summoned to Main Street and they stood in a circle around the group.

Suddenly, Regina gasped. The Charmings, Victor, Jasmine, Aladdin, Rumple, and Belle all followed her eyes and saw that even Granny was summoned with Olivia in her carseat.

"There. Much better." Jafar smiled. "Now, where were we?" He turned to Jasmine who still had her eyes on her baby sister.

Jasmine looked at Gold who slightly nodded his head, telling her that he had completed the switch. She looked back at Jafar and began to hand him the lamp. Regina magicked herself behind him and waved her hand over the top of the box. It wasn't working.

"Did you really think that would work on me?" Jafar turned around and using his magic, threw Regina backwards and into a crowd of people on one side of the circle surrounding them. David, Snow, and Victor were the first ones to run to help her stand, followed by Jasmine, Aladdin, and Emma.

Jafar laughed. "Follow the Lady. Hmmm...Rumple, I remember when you stopped teaching me because you found a more, what did you call it? Ahh, 'suitable' student." He glared at Regina who had just finally stood back up. "Little did you know that I didn't need a teacher. I found myself learning more just from watching and reading and..." He stroked the cobra's head on his walking stick. "...Finding new sources of magic...such as this." He smiled at the cobra and suddenly, threw Belle and Rumple to the opposite side of the circle from Regina and the others.

"I learned Follow the Lady myself and when none of YOU were paying attention, I switched them back." He chuckled for a moment before giving Jasmine a wicked look. "I'm not leaving until I get what I came for."

He began to walk toward Jasmine, but David stepped in front of her.

"You're gonna have to go through me!" Charming yelled, receiving a look of surprise from both Jasmine and Regina.

Jafar slightly smiled. But he turned to Aladdin, who stood beside Jasmine holding her hand, and he began choking him with his magic. He lifted him in the air as he did so and brought him closer to him. They were now both in the very center of the town circle.

"Put him down!" Jasmine was about to move passed David when he wouldn't let her through. She tried pulling around is large muscles but he was too strong. "David! Let me go!"

"I'm not letting him take you."

"But David, he's got Aladdin! Please!"

He thought for a moment before moving, but he turned around to tell Jasmine to stay where she was. To everyone's surprise, Charming began to walk closer to Jafar.

"Put him down!" He yelled, pulling out his sword.

Impressed, Jafar smirked at the prince, but did not take his hand down from Aladdin.

"How about...No." The dark man waved his walking stick and Olivia's carseat sat right on the ground behind him.

Victor, David, and Regina began to run toward him and he pounded the wooden snake against the asphalt once more, creating a force field around Olivia in her carseat, Aladdin still in the air, and himself.

Victor, David, and Regina hit the force field and went flying back, hitting the ground harder than anticipated. No one could get in.

"Hahaha! There's no time for wasting. Either Jasmine and the lamp come with me...or these two die."

"Wait!" Jasmine yelled as she could tell Aladdin couldn't take anymore. "I'll go with you."

"Jasmine, no!" Regina yelled.

"It's okay. I can save Olivia. Just, let me go."

Regina's fear turned to rage, but she had no other option. Wait! She did. Magic. She turned her head from Jasmine and towards the force field. Lifting her hand, a ball of fire formed in it and she threw it at the circle, hoping it would be strong enough to knock down the invisible shield. But nothing happened. The transparent bubble absorbed the fireball and Jafar laughed once more, returning his attention to choking Aladdin.

"Stop! I'll go with you, just-Please. Let him go!" Jasmine tried to persuade.

He smiled. "Good." He threw Aladdin outside of the circle using his magic and transported Jasmine into it.

Seeing that Aladdin was able to leave, she tried to put a hand out of the circle, thinking that it only stopped people and magic from entering. But her hand was denied and she felt a sharp zap-like feeling go through her entire body as she attempted to step out.

"That won't work. The only way you get out is if you're a ball or stream of magic, or I let you out." Jafar chuckled. "Now, bring me my lamp."

"Only if you let Olivia out too." She retorted, finally turning around to face him, after seeing the angered look on her mother's face.

"No. I need her for leverage."

"Why?" Jasmine was cautious not to walk towards him just yet.

"Because you'll do what I say as long as I have your baby sister at my feet..." He turned his head and looked down at the baby behind him. "Literally."

"What do you want?" Jasmine said frustratedly.

"First, I want your father's lamp."

Jasmine looked down at the gold artifact in her hands. Knowing that her father was no longer in it, she hoped Jafar wouldn't know that, so she slowly walked to him and handed it over.

"Good. Now...You're half-genie, so I am now your master and you have to grant me three wishes."

"What?!" She didn't understand.

"Yes. You didn't think that I was that stupid to know that your father wasn't in there, did you? No, of course he's not. He's over there, in that group of hospital residents. Your mother had him locked up for the past two years. It's quite amusing actually. Your father's been here this whole time, yet your mother...Who claims to love you, denied your meeting him."

Jasmine looked at the group of patients that looked like they just got out of a torture house and she tried to spot her father or someone that looked like he could be her father, but did not see who it could be. She had never seen even a picture of him before, so she had no idea if he was even there.

"You're lying." She glared at Jafar.

"Am I? Ask your dear mother."

Jasmine looked over at Regina who tried to keep a straight face, but Jasmine saw right through it. It was true.

"Where is he?" She got no response from her, so she raised her voice. "Where is he?!"

"I'm right here." They heard a voice come from the group.

Jasmine turned her head and saw him step out of hiding. It was silent for a moment.

"Hello, Jasmine." The former genie said in a monotonous tone.

"Father?" She saw it now. He could definitely pass as her dad.

He nodded slowly and a tear ran down her cheek before she turned and looked at Regina.

"Forgive me." The former mayor said, seeing the hurt in Jasmine's eyes from being lied to.

Jasmine closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It's okay." Everyone knew that by the tone of her voice that it wasn't though. "What matters now is that I save all of you. Let's get this over with, shall we?" She turned to Jafar.

"First, you must go into the bottle and I'll rub it when I want you to come out."

"How do I do that?"

"You're half-genie. You'll figure it out, just don't be too long."

She rolled her eyes at him before staring at the lamp, thinking of ways to go in. She closed them like she was gonna make a wish, because that's all she knew.

"Just touch it and think of going inside...It'll work." Sydney said from outside of the circle.

Jasmine opened her eyes and looked at him and he slowly nodded twice. She nodded back and put her hand on the bottle in Jafar's hands.

Suddenly, she was gone in a cloud of smoke.

"Now, that's more like it." Jafar said in an overly excited voice. "Now...It's time for you to come out." He said to the tiny person inside the lamp.

He rubbed it and she reappeared in a powder blue blanket of smoke. When the smoke cleared, everyone could see that she had two bracelets on her wrists...locked on till someone wished her free. She also had on a blue outfit she would've worn back in Agrabah.

"You look wonderful."

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. "You're entitled to three wishes. No more, no less. But you must know that magic has its limits. You cannot wish for life nor death. You cannot wish for love. You cannot wish for more wishes. And once spoken, a wish cannot be undone, no matter what the consequences. So...what is your first wish?" After finishing her little introduction to him, she looked down, confused as to how she knew all of that. Must've been the magic of the bottle.

"I wish that we all...standing here right now...would return to the Enchanted Forest."

"Wish granted." She said frustratedly, before using her magic to make it come true.

"That's his first wish?" Regina thought out loud. "Why would that be-"

"Because..." Jafar answered her as a large cloud of smoke began to move over them. "Once we're there, I shall ask for power over everyone. Then I shall rule all the kingdoms, with my wife right beside me." He smiled at Jasmine and she gave him a look of disgust before the dust rolled over them all, and they vanished.


	29. Home?

A/N: Hey Readers. Sorry it's been so long. I've had some trouble with internet access and school began and it's my senior year, so I've been super busy. I assure you, this story is NOT over. WARNING: Viewer discression advised for possible sadness from this chapter. Love you all. Mwah!

*Enchanted Forest-Present Day*

Everyone looked around at the open field they had landed in. Recognizing where they were, some were relieved and others, not as relieved as they had expected to be. They were home...weren't they? But there was no time for celebrating OR mourning their arrival, they had to stop Jafar.

Oddly though, they had all returned as their Storybrooke selves, wearing exactly what they wore in their cursed town before Jafar made his wish.

"Well," he began. "Now that we're here, I think it's time that I've made my second wish, Jasmine...I-"

"Stop!" Snow yelled, running in from the back of the crowd, followed by Emma and surprisingly, Ariel. No one had even noticed they'd left during all of the talk between Jafar and Jasmine about her father.

"Ugh! What is it now?" Jafar asked, clutching the lamp in his left hand, keeping the cobra staff in his right up to make sure his force field was still very strong.

"Regina." Snow whispered to the woman she had run up to. She forcibly pulled the red haired former mermaid in between her stepmother and herself.

"Ariel? What were you doing in Storybrooke?"

"That doesn't matter." Mary Margaret answered for the girl who had no voice. "You took her voice to prevent her from getting what she wanted...You can do the same to him. But give Ariel her voice back." Snow suggested.

"But why-"

"Just do it. I'm sure we can find a way to pay you back."

"I can't." She whispered back. "His force field is preventing any magic from going in." She thought for a moment..."But...not from coming out." She realized slowly. "He'll need a distraction."

"Like what?"

"Hello?!" Jafar said impatiently. "What's the issue? I've got more important things to do than wait to hear worthless statements from peasants."

"You know, you used to be one!" Granny courageously yelled to the man that pissed her off.

"Distraction? Like what?" Snow asked Regina, ignoring Jafar's remarks.

"Rumpelstiltskin." She looked through the force field, across from her at the imp on the other side, who seemed to be reading her mind at the moment when he nodded towards her as he held his cane firmly in front of him, gripping it tightly with both hands. "Henry, I need you to do something for me." Regina turned to her son.

"Jafar, my old friend." Mr. Gold said, causing the dark skinned man to quickly shift his eyes from Granny, back to Snow White, then to Rumple.

Trying desperately hard not to laugh at the words 'my old friend,' he answered the Dark One. "Don't try to stop me, Rumple. It won't work. I WILL have everything I've ever wanted. I'll rule this entire realm and no one's gonna stop me. Not this crowd of pathetic imbeciles, not the Evil Queen, not my wife...not even you!"

"You're not married, Jafar."

He thought for a moment. "You're right. That's my third wish." He looked at Jasmine who glared at him, extremely annoyed. "But I will have it all."

"You sure about that?" Henry's voice came from the other side of the force field and Jafar shifted his glance once more.

At first, all that was heard was silence, and the stirring of Olivia in her carseat lying on the ground beside him. Then the man burst into loud, chilling laughter.

"Really? The boy is gonna save the day? How obsurd."

"The only thing that's obsurd here is you and your wishes." The boy spat back.

Astounded at an answer like that from a twelve year old, Jafar's smile faded to a furious furrow and he finally moved his staff, this time to send a red stream of magic towards Henry. The crowd ducked from behind Henry as he moved to the side.

The stream pierced the force field, passing Henry and missing all of the people. Jafar accidentally and ironically created his own small door to enter it. After Henry moved aside and he saw that everyone else behind him was safe, he stepped into the field.

"Henry, no!" Emma yelled, attempting to run toward him but being pulled back by Snow and Ariel.

"It's okay." He turned and said quietly to her before slowly putting his forefinger up to his mouth as if his biological mother knew a secret that she shouldn't tell.

Confused, Emma seized her struggling and Henry lightly smiled before turning back around to face the mad man.

"Brave little boy." Jafar stated. "Even a little cocky, aren't ya?" He chuckled, referring to the sly smile on Henry Daniel Mills' face. "Say, where do you get that from? Your "charming" grandfather? Your Savior mother?" He mocked, as if taunting a baby. "Your dead beat dad?" He teased.

"No." Henry replied, turning back around to face the crowd as he looked at the open door in the force field. He took one finger and touched it to the top of the door, then pulled it down to the ground as if it were a zipper to a tent, making sure no one could enter when it magically closed.

Now Emma understood...Because Henry didn't have magic, yet. (Not that she knew of anyways).

He slowly turned once more, evilly smiling at Jasmine and then looking back at Jafar. Jasmine knew right away and she readied herself to duck.

The boy said each word extremely slowly. "I got it from my pissed off adoptive mother."

Suddenly, a fireball formed in his hand and Regina transformed back into herself as she threw it in Jafar's direction. He quickly moved out of the way as it barely grazed his shoulder and hit the wall of the dome they were under, causing another door to open and a few bystanders finally decided to run for it. As soon as the new door opened, Snow, David, Emma, Aladdin, Victor and the real Henry, who was hidden behind a nearby tree for Regina's plan, began to run around the dome to the other side so they could enter.

"You think that your magic will stop me from making a wish?" Jafar asked smartly as he slowly returned to his feet.

"Oh, I don't think." She responded in her clever Evil Queen voice. "I know."

"Yeah? How-?" He was cut off as she waved her hand and he continued to try over and over and over again to speak, but no sound came out. She had taken his voice.

Ariel, still standing where Snow left her, tried to say something...anything. It worked, and through the crowd on the other side of the force field, she could see her Prince Eric.

Jafar grew angry and began to throw deathly magic streams in her direction from his staff as she ducked several times and the Charmings, Victor, Belle, and Aladdin finally entered the dome.

David ran and retrieved Olivia's carseat, handing it to Henry and making him leave at once. Victor and Belle accompanying them for protection.

Emma, Snow, and Aladdin ran to Jasmine attempting to help her get away from the crossfire between Regina and Jafar. Eventually, Gold joined in as well and he found that he no longer needed his cane in this world, so he ditched it and threw energy balls and fireballs of his own.

Finally, so many fireballs had hit the dome that it lost its strength and durability. The force field fell and Jafar was now vulnerable, the rest of the citizens of Storybrooke were able to get away to hide nearby and all that was left in the open were Jafar, Regina, and Rumple who were still magically battling. David had taken out his sword in case he had to block anything from hitting Snow, Emma, Aladdin, and Jasmine. They had gone to a tree and watched from behind it. Henry had Olivia safe behind another tree and Victor and Belle stayed with them.

"We have to do something!" Jasmine yelled over the loud noises of the fight.

"I agree!" Emma screamed back. "Let's go!" They were about to run from behind the tree, Snow with her bow and arrow, Emma with a gun and sword, Jasmine with a dagger, and Aladdin with stick that he'd found.

But before they could enter the fight, everyone heard a scream from David.

"Stay back!" Came from him when he looked at them and realized that they were coming out of safety. He had thrown his sword at Jafar and to save himself, Jafar used his magic to stop it.

"No!" Jasmine screamed as she ran and jumped in front of the sword, heading toward Charming. He hadn't realized it was headed for him due to the fact that he was looking at them to make sure they were safe.

They all stopped running when they saw her body jerk as the sword hit her and she made a small gasp of pain. David turned to see her facing him, her back arched after the impact, and her face in shock, with no expression on it.

"No." He whispered as she leisurely looked down at the blade which was visible through her stomach and she looked at him, slowly smiling. "No." He said once more before she fell and he caught her just before she hit the ground.

Aladdin ran over and immediately tried to pull the sword out as he kneeled next to her in David's arms.

"Don't!" David yelled to Aladdin as Jasmine screamed from his attempt at pulling it out.

"What should we do?!" Aladdin asked through panicked tears as he moved his hands in multiple directions over the wound, trying to figure out what the best thing was for her right now.

Regina ducked from a stream of dark magic launched at her by Jafar's staff. When she stood up, she saw another stream get thrown at her and she used her magic to send it in his direction. He used his staff to protect himself. Maintaining his focus on Regina, Jafar didn't notice Mr. Gold transport himself behind him with Pandora's Box. He opened it, pulling the mad man into the box, for good.

Regina was so relieved and happy when she smiled at Rumple, who didn't smile back as he looked passed her. Her smile faded with concern and she turned around to see what he looked at behind her. All she could see were Jasmine's legs because Aladdin blocked her view from her upper torso.

She ran over to the three on the ground as the other six, Victor, Snow, Henry, Emma, Rumple, and Belle slowly gathered around, looking down at them.

"Move!" She screamed at Aladdin as the sword came in sight and she pushed him out of the way before kneeling down in his original position. He kneeled beside Regina, at thigh level with Jasmine.

"This-" she felt a frog in her throat. "This is gonna hurt a little bit, okay hon." The former Evil Queen began to wiggle her fingers slowly at the handle of the sword behind her daughter's back and Jasmine whimpered, causing Regina to pause what she was doing for a moment to hold her hand. "I know, Sweetie. I know." She cried, but she had to get that sword out. She slowly, pulled it towards her until she reached a certain point and very quickly, like ripping off a bandaid, removed the whole sword from her back magically and threw it at the ground near Emma's feet, cringing at Jasmine's short, loud yell.

"Don't just stand there! Do something!" She yelled up to Rumple through angered sobs.

"What?" He asked. They knew that he hadn't the power to heal, nor did she have that kind of power. They could heal small cuts and scrapes, but an injury this big, it would take a miracle and all the magic in the world.

She furiously looked away from him and back to Jasmine as she tried to think of something. "I don't know! Anything!" She yelled, gesturing towards the wound. "We have to save her!" Jasmine's breaths were short and heavy as a small trail of blood trickled out of the side of her mouth.

The Storybrooke bystanders came out of hiding and gathered near Snow, Emma, and Victor to see what happened.

Since all Rumple did was stare down at her, Regina turned her head to Victor, the doctor of the bunch. "What do we do?!"

"I'm sorry, Regina." He said very sadly, shaking his head.

"How can you say that?!"

"Regina" Jasmine quietly breathed out.

"We can't just let her die!" Regina was still yelling at Victor.

"Mama!" Jasmine was able to say a little louder, catching Regina's attention.

"Yes, baby. I'm here. I'm here." Regina caressed her face with one hand and her closest arm with the other.

"It's okay, Mama." Jasmine smiled again. "It's okay."

"No, Jasmine. It's not." Suddenly, an idea hit her and she gasped. "Make a wish. You can save yourself." She said, excitedly and hopefully,

Jasmine coughed and shook her head. "No." She heaved. "My...powers don't work like...that." She had to pause in between words.

Another idea came to Regina. "Aladdin!" She looked at him kneeling next to her. "Kiss her...True love's kiss. It'll work!"

Everyone immediately became hopeful and Aladdin tried...but it didn't work. Regina felt broken and frustrated.

"No." She said, her eyes lighting up. "I should try. The love between a mother and child is more powerful."

She leaned in very slowly, touching her lips to Jasmine's forehead. Jasmine closed her eyes as she did so. When Regina backed away, Jasmine opened her eyes...but nothing happened.

"No!" Regina shouted. "No!" There must be another way, she thought to herself, but she couldn't think of anything. "True love's kiss can break any curse!" She shouted, beginning to lose that faith.

"This-" The girl coughed. "This isn't..." Breathe. "It's not a...c-curse." A tear escaped Regina's eye. "It's okay. It's okay." Jasmine smiled, trying to cheer her up.

"I'm so sorry." David sobbed.

"For...what?" Jasmine choked out.

"It's all my fault. I was supposed to protect you. It was MY sword that-"

"Hey, hey." She reached up and gently touched his cheek. "It's...n-n-n-not your f-f-fault." Her eyes began to flutter, she was slowly losing more and more strength by the minute...nay, by the second. "You're a g-good protector...I'm going somewhere safe now."

"No, don't say that." Regina scolded. "You're gonna be just fine. I thought you died once before. I'm not gonna let that happen again."

"L-Listen, Mama." Jasmine wiped a tear from her mother's eye. She has called Regina 'Mama' more than she ever has just in this moment. "Listen." She whispered weakly.

Regina nodded. Victor now kneeled next to David beside the girl who could've potentially been his daughter. Sydney kneeled beside Victor, knowing that it was his daughter.

"Yesterday, you told me s-something that I sh-should've told you the mo-moment I f-f-found you. I l-love you, too! And I will always be wi-with you. No matter wh-what. You're a good mother. T-Take good care of Henry and Olivia. I-" Her breathing started to halter. "Olivia, I-"

She didn't need to finish her thoughts before Henry knelt down by her head with the baby in his arms.

"Henry, you spend as much...time with your...family as you... can." He nodded, knowing that she meant Regina as well. "And Olivia-" She grabbed the baby's hand closest to her and kissed it slowly. "I love you. B-Be good for Mama, okay?" It was almost as if she nodded. "F-father. I kn-know we didn't meet at the per-perfect timing." She chuckled as best she could. "Bu-but I'm glad we di-did."

Sydney nodded regretfully.

"Why isn't she crying?" Henry wondered about the infant. Why wasn't their connection working right now?

Jasmine looked up at the sky, passed everyone's heads and smiled. "B-Because I'm not sad." It was almost as if Olivia Victoria Mills' presence could heal her sister and make her feel at peace.

She did...Jasmine felt very at peace. And after kissing Olivia's baby hand, the 17 year old girl opened her eyes and released her sister's hand, looking back at Aladdin.

"D-Don't stop searching for love. I know y-you'll find her someday."

He sadly nodded as he held her left hand, blood on it from her holding the wound.

She knew that she was going now and there was one more thing she had to do before she left.

She grabbed her mother's hand with her right one and looked into her eyes. "One last wish." She said, causing a violent sob to escape Regina's lips. "I wish that you will have a happily ever after." Regina sobbed once more, closing her eyes as she held up Jasmine's hand to kiss it. "I love you, Mama." She slowly and weakly whispered.

"I love you too." Her mother cried, still holding Jasmine's hand and moving it close to her own heart.

Soon, Jasmine began to see a bright light above her. "I love every single one of you. My family." She smiled at Victor as one last tear slowly escaped her pending eye.

After a few seconds, her body began to shake as she gasped for her last breaths of air. Suddenly, the shakes stopped. The breaths stopped. And her hands both fell limp. One in her first love's hand and one in her mother's. Her head relaxed and laid back on David's forearm. He finally felt her full weight upon him as he tried his hardest not to scream from anger at himself for not saving her.

Snow's hand fell to her chest, over her heart as she felt it break when she saw David close Jasmine's open eyes. He slowly brought his hand up to push her fallen hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear before carefully moving out from underneath her and Regina and Aladdin set her hands on her stomach, unintentionally covering the stab wound.

Regina kept her hand on her passed daughter's cold ones as David and Aladdin both backed away. Victor set a comforting hand on top of Regina's causing her lowered head to look up into sorrow-filled and sympathetic eyes.

Henry cried, still holding Olivia, and leaned in closer to her. "I was glad to meet you, Jazzy." He said, giving her a big sister nickname and then kissing her on the forehead. He then stood up with the baby and backed away, Victor following, leaving Regina the only one still by her body.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew passed everyone and they all closed their eyes at the same time. One by one, opening their eyes, they saw that they were no longer in the Enchanted Forest...but back in Storybrooke.

"What happened?" Emma asked slowly.

Everyone looked around, waiting for an answer.

"It was Jasmine." To everyone's surprise, it was Regina who had responded. "Her last wish came true, bringing us here."

She wasn't crying anymore...No. She couldn't cry anymore.

She stood up and wiped away the stopped tears, turning around to look at everyone. They all looked down at Jasmine behind her legs. She gently took Olivia from Henry as they all returned to looking at her. The former Majesty began to walk as the crowd parted like the Red Sea and watched her walk through them the way she had at David's wedding to Snow.


	30. A Wake: Part One

A/N: Hey, readers! This next chapter has two parts to it because it ended up being longer than I intended, but here you go! Mwah! Review review review!

"Regina?"

"Yeah?" She answered slowly, staring into the full body mirror by her bed. She remembered looking into this mirror with David holding her stomach from behind before Olivia was born.

"You ready?" Victor asked, poking his head through the door.

"Well, I've done this before, right? I should be." It was almost as if she were talking to herself more than him.

He walked in and stood next to the mirror looking at her.

"I'm sorry." She said as she snapped out of whatever daze she was in. "We can go." She tried putting on a smile.

"You look beautiful."

She looked at herself in the mirror once more, then looked back at him and turned around to grab her scarf off of her bed.

"I wear black everyday...why does this feel different all of a sudden?"

"Because, today's not everyday."

"I'll go get Olivia." She said as she passed him and left the room towards the nursery.

He watched her walk by and stayed in the room for a few minutes before finally heading towards the stairs.

"Who else is coming?" Victor asked as they pulled up to the small funeral parlor.

Regina didn't answer, nor did she move. She just stared at the entrance to the funeral home in silence, not even reaching to unbuckle her seatbelt. Her hands clung to the steering wheel and Victor looked at her, wishing she had let him drive.

"Regina-"

"I'm fine." She quietly interrupted him.

Finally stepping out of the car, she felt the chilled January breeze blowing her hair back. The month of December had gone by so quickly, no one even realized they had missed Christmas and New Year's while they focused on finding out what happened to Jasmine. One thing Regina WAS grateful for was the lack of snow the last few weeks. Although she DID despise the freezing rain. But she knew that soon, the snow would return...it never stays away for long. Not where they were anyway.

As Victor watched her take Olivia out of the carseat, he realized this was the first time she's ever left the carrier in the car.

"You're not bringing it in with you?" He asked as she shut the door.

"Jafar's gone. Therefore, she's safe." She said sharply as Victor looked at her, confused. Suddenly, she realized how harsh she was being and her voice softened. "She just needs to be held today."

He said no more, but knew that it was actually Regina, who needed to be held today. Perhaps that's the real reason she held the baby so close to her chest as they walked into the parlor.

After going over some things with the undertaker, they both walked into the room, Regina stopping abruptly when she saw the casket in the front of the room. It was only a few yards away, but as she looked at it down the aisle, passed all the chairs on either side of her, it looked like a hallway that never ended. Victor stopped beside her as well and just put a gentle, comforting hand on her lower back.

"It's okay if you're not ready." He practically whispered. "Why don't you go take a seat for a while, and when you're ready, you can get up and see her."

She just nodded slowly as he kissed Olivia on the head as she rested it on her mother's shoulder.

"Come on." He led her over to a chair in the back before leaving to hang up their coats.

When he returned, she had not moved one bit. She contained the same expression on her face, Olivia laid in the same position in her arms, and she just stared ahead. It hurt Victor seeing her like that. He sat down at the chair in the aisle directly across from her.

He opened his mouth several times to say something, but he had no clue what should come out.

"You know, I haven't seen you cry since-"

"I'm not gonna cry for you, if that's what you're expecting." She snapped.

"No, I was just-" He didn't even know himself. What WAS he getting at?

"I don't need any words of wisdom right now, okay?"

"Okay." He said, surprising her by how understanding he was. He looked around the empty room in silence. Then he looked out into the lobby and squinted at the book that lay on the posium by the entrance. He saw the one name in it...his own. "Where is everybody?" He thought out loud, even though he meant to keep it to himself.

"They're not coming."

Shocked, he turned to look back at her. "Not even your David? Not even her father?" He was apalled. "At least a FEW people should show up to the funeral of a young girl who died saving their lives!"

"They don't know."

"Not even Aladdin? What do you mean they don't know? They had to know that there'd be a wake."

"Yes, but I didn't tell them when."

"Why?"

"I guess I forgot, okay?" She continued to rub Olivia's back.

He was terrified at her calmness. But, understanding that she must've been a little flustered having to deal with funeral arrangements and taking care of an infant by herself, he remained calm himself.

"Okay. I understand that you forgot because you've been dealing with a lot." He saw the look on her face when she slowly closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "That IS why you forgot, isn't it?"

She slowly reopened her eyes, still looking straight ahead. "Sure."

He stared at her as she ignored him and he sighed heavily before turning his head back to Jasmine's coffin.

About ten minutes of silence went by and he couldn't hold it in anymore. "She's a hero. They should be here."

"It doesn't matter, Victor." She finally looked at him, her expression changing to anger. "Okay? She's MY daughter. The terrifying mayor's daughter, the Evil Queen's daughter, the daughter of everyone's enemy!" Her expression quickly returned to mournful and she turned to look at the casket once again. "It doesn't matter HOW MUCH good she did or HOW MANY people she saved...she's still MY daughter."

After staring at her for a few moments, Victor realized what was really going on. "That's why you didn't tell them, isn't it?"

She gave an annoyed look as she raised one of her eyebrows, still avoiding looking at him.

"You didn't think anyone would come...so you didn't even invite them."

"Yeah, well. They wouldn't come. Even if she gave everyone a kidney, she's still a Mills and NO ONE comes to a Mills funeral."

"Well, I'M here."

She ignored him and it went back to being silent for a while before Victor decided that they needed to do something.

"Do you wanna say a few words for her?" He stood up and put his hand out, offering it to her as if he wanted to dance.

She just looked at it, thinking before slowly shaking her head no. He disappointedly put his hand down and kneeled next to her chair. "Shall I say a few things?"

"I don't-"

She was cut off when they heard soft chatter out in the lobby. Regina turned around and Victor stood up to look passed the door into Jasmine's room.

Regina stood up, not believing what she was seeing. David was signing his name in the big book out on the podium and a long line of Storybrooke residents dressed in beautiful, black outfits stood behind him. The line reaching out to the door.

"I thought you said you didn't tell anyone."

"I didn't." She said, stunned. She walked around her chair and went out into the lobby, people telling her sorry for her loss and saying how brave Jasmine was.

Holding Olivia even tighter to her chest, she walked up to Aladdin, who was third in line behind David and Snow, and took his hand in hers as if she would shake it. But she just held it.

"Aladdin, I-" She wasn't sure how the words would be able to leave her dark lips. "I'm very sorry and I-" Her voice wavered at the slightest, but she stayed strong. "I wish we could've gotten closer."

He obviously had been crying and he didn't hold back the two more falling tears as he nodded when she said this. "If you ever need anything..."

He nodded once more, slightly smiling and wiping away his tears with the opposite hand of the one she still gripped tightly.

"Don't hesitate to call." She finally said, sending him back a light smile.

"Mom?" Regina looked passed Aladdin and she felt her heart shatter as she saw Henry in line behind the tall young man.

"Henry." She said, overjoyed to see him, yet unable to crack a larger grin than she already wore.

They hugged, Olivia still in her arms and once they broke the embrace, Henry kept a hand on his mother's arm and Olivia held on tight to the forefinger on his right hand.

"I'm so sorry, Mom. I-"

"Don't apologize, dear. It wasn't your fault."

"No, I'm sorry for doubting you as a mother. Jazzy was right, you are a good mom. I love you."

"I love you too. My Prince." He smiled and gave her one more hug before she felt a hand on her back and turned around as Henry returned to waiting for his turn to sign the book.

"Regina, I- I am terribly sorry. I have no idea what you must be feeling." Snow pulled her in for a hug that David couldn't help but watch feom the coat rack.

Unaware of how to react, Regina just let her stepdaughter hold her as long as she wanted. While they hugged, Regina saw Emma over Snow's shoulder and the Savior gave her a weak smile of sympathy before the hug finally ended.

"Hello, Madame May-I mean...Regina." She turned around, surprised to see Widow Lucas immediately place a sympathetic hand upon Regina's arm that held the peaceful infant. "Would you like me to take her for a while? You must be terribly overwhelmed and it's gonna be harder to see people, today of all days, with...your hands. Uh, full."

"No, it's okay. I've got her."

"Are you sure? Bec-"

"I said no!" Regina raised her voice a little more than she wanted. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. You have every right to be-"

"To be what?!" She interrupted the older woman.

"I was just gonna say...To be protective. After everything that happened. It's okay."

There was a short silence between them. "Thank you." Regina thanked Granny and Widow put a sympathetic hand on the brunette's arm before weakly smiling at her and moving towards the podium. Ruby was right behind her grandmother in line and she also put a comforting hand on the queen's shoulder before moving closer to the podium.

"Regina." A voice came from behind her and she slowly turned around.

Seeing who it was she realized that she must not have seen him go by and sign the book when she was talking to Miss Lucas.

At first, she didn't know what to say. They just looked at eachother forever before he finally thought of something to say.

"So, this is your daughter." He said, putting a hand up to touch Olivia, but stopping just before it reached her.

"Yes." She said quietly, feeling everyone's eyes on the two of them.

"And...who is the father?"

"It's-" She looked down as if she were ashamed to say it. "It's David." She looked at his hand, still hovering over Olivia. "You can touch her, Sydney." He hesitated. "It's alright."

He looked into Regina's eyes and slowly moved his hand in closer to the infant, rubbing her back gently. For some reason, Regina smiled at the strange happiness on his face as he looked at the baby. But she also saw the sadness in his eyes that she recognized as pain from missing everything in his passed daughter's life. Regina recognized that look because it was a look that she too wore when meeting her first born years after learning of her death as a still born.

Suddenly, Sydney took his hand away and looked back to Regina. She noticed small tears growing in his eyes and realized that this was the first time she ever felt extreme care for him...Of course she did though. They have both just lost their child and neither got to spemd enough time with her.

There were no words between them when they exchanged similar looks and Sydney walked into the room where Jasmine's sacoffigus lay. Regina just stared at him walk by and she suddenly couldn't move, but she knew that she had to keep up appearances and not give anyone in this town the satisfaction of seeing the mayor break.

Finally, after everyone had signed the book, gone in, sat down, and Regina had, to her surprise, gotten lots of sympathetic looks and a few hugs and handshakes from people she never imagined would even touch her, she realized that she was now the only person who had not even seen Jasmine up close yet.

There's always seats in the front row reserved for the family of the deceased and Regina was so scared to go up there, but it was the only open seat...so she slowly walked down the aisle, feeling lingering eyes upon her. When she reached the casket, she averted her eyes away from it and sat down in the front corner as the speaking began.

The undertaker said a simple but heartfelt speech and when he finished, he gave anyone else who'd like to talk the option to. Regina, expecting no one due to the fact that Jasmine was hardly known, was shocked when a few people went out of their way just to say a few simple words. Some of which could've actually made her fall out of her chair in agony.

She was not surprised when David, Aladdin, and Victor were the first ones to speak, but the others she never even dreamed would attend a funeral where she was present.

"I didn't know Jasmine very well. I met her in the hospital after my baby was born and she was being, all kinds of stubborn with a nurse there." David tried to bring in a few laughs, to stay upbeat and hold back tears. "I saved her from getting kicked out and she was even giving me some attitude after that." There was a short pause and he put his head down for a second, before looking up to Regina.

"At first when she told me that Regina was her mother, I wasn't sure if I believed her...but the second I remembered how stubborn her mother was, I knew it was true." He laughed and a tear fell down his cheek, Regina staring at him up on the podium. "I remember telling her that I'd be her savior one day when she felt unwanted." This was the first time anyone had ever heard this and Regina looked to him, confused and wondering. "I told her I wouldn't let anything else happen to her after what Jafar did. And I told her that I would save her from him...I'm just ashamed I couldn't. But I do know that she was a very determined young girl and she would've died for everyone here today...Including her mother." He looked to Regina once more. "Thank you." He said into the microphone before leaving and Aladdin stepped up after him.

"Well, uh." The teen sniffed. "David, there's one thing I should say to you before I begin. Jasmine and I had a talk one day and she told me about that day. The day you promised her you'd protect her and...she told me that she was very grateful for that, but she would do anything to make sure nothing would hapoen to Olivia's father and, uh. I just wanted you to know that when she saved you...It was how she would've wanted to go." He sniffed once more and David sat down, shocked and feeling more tears well up in his eyes.

"But, uh, to begin my speech I'd like to say that...As long as I've known Jasmine, we have never gotten along. And yes, she was the most stubborn person I knew." He chuckled. "But when she finally let her guard down, we realized that we could learn to like eachother. But I've known her for years and I do know that she'd do anything for family. I mean come on, she spent 28 years travelling through different realms just to find her mother...and no matter how many times she doubted heraelf, or others doubted her. She didn't give up. So, Regina...I know that I never got to know you myself, but you should know that Jasmine loved you very much and when she wished for you to have a happily ever after...she meant it. And when she left," He had to pause for a minute so he wouldn't cry again. "When she left she said that she loved her family...I know that she meant everyone in here today." He looked down and smiled. "I remember her saying that she thought of the whole town as one, big, dysfunctional family that she would love to die for. So when she died out there...It was for all of you." He sniffed once more. "Thank you."

He left and Victor was up. Everyone was not surprised to see that Regina had not let one tear slip yet. They knew her for her strength and stubbornness to make people believe that she didn't have a heart.


	31. A Wake: Part Two

"You all know me to be a bit private and to not ahow my feelings...but today, that'll be different." Victor was nervous, but he knew what he had to say. "Regina, I- I want you to be happy. Just like Jasmine did and I want all of you to know that...yes, Regina and I have been together for-for most of her pregnancy and the last few weeks have been a bit shaky. Umm." He was having a much harder time than he believed he would saying this. "Everyone...and Regina, you should know that if it weren't for Jasmine...I probably would not be alive today." Suddenly there was inaudible chatter throughout the room and Regina was confused, still holding Olivia close to her chest.

Once the chatter settled down a bit, Victor began to apak again. "Yes, as many of you know...I sometimes binge drink when I've been having problems." He looked down shamefully. "One night about two months ago, Jasmine saw that I had been drinking after a, uh. A fight between her mother and I. She came to my apartment to apologize because she believed that she had caused the argument and-After accidentally telling me that Regina loved me, that was the first time I knew how she felt...I tried to drive over to the mansion to talk to you." He was now talking directly to Regina, who still was in complete shock.

"She begged me not to get into that car, but I did anyway and before I left, she made one of her magical wishes and that night...I passed out in the driver's seat before I could even put the key in the ignition. I woke up the next morning in my bed, unaware of what happened. She told me that after she wished for me to have good night's sleep...she also wished for me to make it safely to my bed." He paused before realizing what he was really trying to say. "I guess my point is, that Jasmine was a true hero and we should all be grateful." He slowly turned his head to her peaceful figure. "Thank you for saving our lives Jasmine." He left the podium and no one knew what to say, or even think.

Next up was Sydney...Everyone was anxious and curious to hear what he'd have to say. Regina, however, was terrified and hoping he wouldn't bring up the last two years he spent in the asylum.

"Hello, everyone. I know that you may be surprised to see me up here. I know I am." He thought out loud before clearing his throat. "Um. I didn't even know that Jasmine was alive after all this time. Back before the curse...her mother and I were under the knowledge that she had passed during child birth." Almost everyone in the room gasped, this was their first time hearing about this. "And I know that it might be hard for any of tou to understand this but, uh. I was happy about that." Everyone was silent.

"When Jasmine was born, I was trapped inside Regina's mirror for eternity. I knew that I wouldn't have even been able to hold my child...And seeing Regina with her everyday would've been a worse torture for me than being stuck in a piece of glass for the rest of my life." The room was silent in understanding now. "But learning that she at least got to see me for who I am here, I'm okay with how things turned out. I just-I just wish we could've gotten to know eachother better." He rested his hands on both sides of the podium in front of him. "So we never got to say a proper hello and goodbye, Jasmine." He walked over to her body and put one hand on top of hers which lay on her stomach. "Hello, Jasmine." He kissed her on the forehead and whispered, "Goodbye."

One stray tear began to find its way to the surface of Regina's eye, but she would not allow it to leave.

As Sydney left and sat back in his seat, Granny was next, followed by Ruby, Henry who was very nervous to say anything, a few people who crossed her path maybe once or twice including Belle, and Dr. Hopper.

"First, I'd like to say thank you to everyone for your courage to stand up here." Regina was still holding Olivia as if she would disappear if she let go of her for even just a second. "Before I begin Ms. Mills, I'd like to say that I am terribly sorry." She bowed her head to Archie as if saying 'thank you' and he continued. "Jasmine, came to visit me one day. This was before anyone of us knew who she was. She asked me one of the most significant questions I think I've ever received from a patient. She asked 'What is the meaning of life HERE when everywhere else there is magic involved in everything.' I don't think it was until the day that she sacrificed herself for all of us, that I finally found the answer to that question."

He looked at her body laying still, as if she would wake up just to hear the answer. "Jasmine, you probably know more about life than all of us now, but I think the answer to your question is, that the meaning of life here is the same as anywhere. With or without magic, life is about creating your own magic. In love or success, finding a way to make it work for you is what life and experience teaches us every single day. I hope you found your magic."

As Archie left the podium, the undertaker approached it. "Now...Mayor-I mean, Ms. Mills...Is there anything you'd like to say?"

She felt the eyes on her from all over the room. She really didn't want to speak to anyone, let alone a whole room full of people. But she tried to think of it as something Jasmine could've needed. Even though she knew she was gone, she felt as though she'd be disappointed if Regina didn't at least thank her for what she did.

She finally stood, feeling her legs ready collapse from underneath her. As she was about to reach the stairs up to the platform of the podium, she felt a hand on her back. David was there to hold Olivia for her. This whole time...the last two hours have been nothing but Regina refusing to let go of her baby. But in the next two seconds, Olivia's father was holding her and her mother was approaching the hardest speech she's ever given in her life. As queen she had given many...especially many speeches that would terrorize the small villages she searched through for the bandit Snow White. Even after all of that, this was still much harder.

As she stepped up, she couldn't help but stare at Jasmine for a long time before speaking, this being the first time she actually looked at Jasmine lying there, motionless. Suddenly, she flashed back to the day she was in labor. All she could hear were her own screams and the voices of the two midwives telling her to push. This felt just like that moment when Jasmine did not cry as she entered the world. Neither did she cry when she exited the world.

Regina had to look away after the painful memory. She looked down at the microphone. Everyone, still waiting for her to begin.

"This is not the first time I've done this." She began, no one understanding what she was talking about. "When Jasmine was born and I was told that she died...I couldn't breathe for weeks. Having done this twice...losing my daughter, I now realize that-yes, things happen for a reason." Everyone was confused. "The first time she died, it-" She looked down once more. "I know I have a troubled past and there is no one in this world or any other realm that knows me by my first name. I am well known as the Evil Queen. Even I have heard many stories...and lies about how I became this way." People looked around at eachother...no one had expected her speech to be anything like THIS. "Yes, things happen for a reason...the first time Jasmine passed, I-I went dark...and THAT was the day I truly embraced my given moniker." Her eyes accidentally shifted to Snow.

"I terrorized villages and people...trying to forget about her. I cast the Dark Curse to get my happy ending, but truly...it was to escape all the memories that I COULD'VE had raising my daughter there. Bringing everyone here was selfish, I know...but it got me my son." She smiled at Henry. "And it got me my daughter." She looked at David holding Olivia. "And I even found the one thing that brought me to casting that curse in the first place." She weakly smiled at Jasmine.

"The first time I met her I had no clue that it was her, nor did she tell me. That day, she told me that she was thankful for me casting the curse because no one in this town would be the person that they are today, including her and myself. Though she was right, and things DO happen for a reason, I still would like to apologize for taking her death out on you." No one was expecting this at all. "I-Uh...I had a dream the night before Jafar killed her. When I first had it, I had no idea what it was telling me until today...I'm just glad that I am finally awake and thankfully, I was able to change the result." She meant that staying evil was supposed to lead to her own death by Jafar, as well as Jasmine's. But because she had changed, it would not lead to her own. "Jasmine, I love you and I promise that I will never let you go again."

Regina finally walked over to the coffin, though she did it hesitantly and she slowly put a hand on Jasmine's forehead. Everyone watched and the undertaker walked back up to the podium.

"Thank you everyone for your presence today. We will be bringing the hearse to the cemetery in about five minutes. You can all take your flags for your cars from the box by the door on your way out and we shall leave shortly."

Though no one thought that they needed to take the flags because pretty much the whole town was here, they did it anyways and they all lined their cars up, ready to follow the hearse to Srorybrooke Cemetery...Where Jasmine would be put in the Mills' family mausoleum.

Outside, David tried to hand Olivia back to Regina, but she said that he could take her and she even gave him her carseat to drive her over to the cemetery as well.

After Jasmine's body was placed inside the mausoleum, Sydney stood beside Regina and she looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

"She truly was a hero." He finally said. "And a good genie, at that."

"Yes. Yes, she was."

"I guess we had a great daughter, didn't we?"

"Sydney-"

"I forgive you...I just hope she didn't make that last wish in vain." He turned and walked away. She began to wonder why her wish brought them back to Storybrooke.


	32. Three Months Later

A/N: Hey. I'm going to post the next two chapters together because I can't wait for you to read 33. Hope you enjoy. Mwah!

After Jasmine's funeral, everything returned to the way it was before she came. Well, almost. Olivia stayed with David at Granny's sometimes (finding an apartment in Storybrooke was a lot harder than he expected). Henry went back and forth between Regina's house and Emma's place. Victor, however, changed almost completely. He remained focused on his work and hardly had time off and when he did, he spent it sleeping. He also quit drinking.

March 4th, it had been almost three months since Jasmine's passing and no one had seen Regina even act like anything happened. But they suspected that that was normal coming from her...because it was. She had always just pushed everything aside like there were more important things to worry about...And there were. She had to take care of her son and her daughter. Part time, yes. But still, she thought nothing of it. Even Valentine's Day passed and she did absolutely nothing with no one. It was almost as if she were mayor again...but with less work.

"Hey, Mom?"

"Yeah, kid?" Emma asked her twelve year old son as she made him breakfast.

"Do you think we could visit Jazzy's grave today? It's her birthday."

"It is?" Mary Margaret asked, coming down the stairs of the apartment.

"Yeah. That's what Mom said anyway." Emma and Snow glanced at eachother. "Well? Can we?"

His grandmother began to answer. "I think it'd be a nice thing to do, but-"

"But what? She's still my sister."

"We know, Henry." She said nicely. "It's just that-Well..." She looked to Emma for help before her daughter knelt down to be at eye level with her son.

"We don't know if it'd be right to walk into Regina's family mausoleum without her permission. That just-It just wouldn't be right."

"Why not? It's my family mausoleum, too. And it's not like neither of you haven't done it before. Come on. Please?"

Emma stood up again and locked eyes with her mother. "Sure. We should stop down at Game Of Thorns and pick up some flowers as well." The blonde said while grabbing her coat, the other two following.

"Happy Birthday, Jazzy." Henry said as he looked at her casket in the room Daniel's body used to be held in.

He set the flowers on top of the coffin and paused for a minute. Emma and Snow realized that he had seen or thought of something.

"What is it, kid?" Emma wondered.

"These flowers." He picked up a handful of dead calla lilies that were beside the new ones he had just placed.

"What about them?" His mother asked.

"My Mom put them here."

"Well, of course she did." Snow said a little sadly.

"No. She put them in here the day of the funeral."

"So?" Emma replied.

"She usually puts new ones on all graves close to her every week. At most, every two weeks..." He looked at the dead flowers in his hands. "She hasn't been here in over two months."

"It's okay, Henry. I'm sure she's just grieving and waiting for the right time." Snow said.

"It's just not like her." He mumbled softly.

He put his hand on the casket before they left and he blew Jasmine a kiss as they walked out of the private room in the mausoleum and headed toward the stairs that led back to the way out and into the cemetery.

"Regina? Regina, where have you been? You haven't answered any of my calls and I'm worried. Look...Olivia misses you. Please! Give me a call." David hung up the phone after leaving his anxious message. He returned his attention to the three and a half month old baby in his arms.

"Hey."

David jumped at the sudden voice behind him. He turned his chair around at the counter in Granny's diner and he sighed when he saw who it was before turning the seat back around to face the counter.

"What?" Charming asked annoyingly.

"I heard your call. Having trouble getting ahold of Regina?" Victor friendly asked.

"Look, I don't want to fight right now." David said, putting the baby bottle back in Olivia's mouth.

"Neither do I. I- May I?" He gestured towards the chair next to David, asking if he could sit. David looked at him before slowly nodding and Victor joined him.

"You DON'T wanna fight?" David asked.

"No...I promised Regina I wouldn't, for one...and for two, that's not why I came here."

"Then why did you come here?" David had been a little edgy ever since the divorce between him and Snow had finally went through.

"Same reason you've been on the phone all afternoon." The doctor ignored the look he was getting. "I haven't seen or heard from her in a while. I know, I know. She and I are not together anymore, but I've heard around and even others have told me that she hasn't been around lately. So...I went to the mansion and knocked on the door several times."

"And?"

"Nothing."

"Your point is?" Charming was getting extremely annoyed with the play by play right now.

"My point is...that we should go see her."

"Go?" David's eyes widened and he put Olivia's bottle back on the counter. "Go see her? What do you mean? Just walk into her house?"

"Yeah, I mean...just to...make sure she's alright. I'm worried...and so are you."

"And how do you know that I am?"

"Because. I've been sitting at that table having lunch and for the past hour, since you've walked in here from the motel, you've been calling and getting her machine. Now, either you're worried about her...OR you just really want to annoy her with twelve voicemails."

David looked down thinking, as he put a burp cloth over his shoulder and began to pat Olivia on the back over it.

"I've had Olivia for three weeks." He finally said, but he knew that Victor was unaware of the significance of that by the look on his face. "She usually only stays with me for the weekends, but one day she just-"

"Stopped calling." Victor finished.

"Yeah."

They were silent for a while and as David finally finished burping Olivia, he thought about how even if they didn't find Regina right away, his daughter was running out of diapers and bottles. He was certain that her mother would have more diapers in the nursery and more milk in the fridge at the manor. Regina was always prepared and organized.

"Okay. We can go," Victor began to stand up but David raised his voice slightly. "IF," Dr. Whale paused and looked at him. "You promise not to make a scene."

"Why would I make a scene?"

"Just-Don't be a pain, okay?"

"I promise." Victor said sarcastically before they both stood and headed for the door, David carrying Olivia in the carseat, and Victor following him to the truck.

"This is ridiculous. Tell me again why we're driving to every building in town?" Victor said on their way to the fourth business in Storybrooke after seeing that Regina was nowhere to be found in her house.

"Because. Something could've happened to her. Her house has clearly not been cleaned in a while. Which, for her, we both know is unnatural."

"Well, that's true. When I would visit for home appointments during the pregnancy, everytime I'd come over she'd be in the middle of cleaning SOMETHING. Whether it was dusting the furniture, vacuuming, washing the dishes-"

"And the dishes in her house were overflowing in the sink."

"Right." Victor decided he'd stop complaining. "Keep driving."

About ten minutes went by and there was no sign of Olivia's mother.

"Listen, Emma?" David said on the phone outside of the ice cream shop. "Have you seen or talked to Regina lately?" He waited for his daughter to answer and Victor waited anxiously. Wishing he could hear the woman on the other end. "Right. We'll check there."

David hung up and walked back to his truck, Victor following.

"Where to next?" The doctor in the passenger's seat asked as he buckled his seatbelt.

David turned the key in the ignition and put his hand on the shift in the center of the front seats before looking at Victor.

"Cemetery." Victor looked ahead as they pulled away.


	33. Finding Her

They arrived at the cemetery and Victor looked around the place for a person and/or a car as they both unbuckled their seatbelts. David got out and took Olivia's carseat from the back. As Victor walked around the truck to head towards the Mills' Mausoleum, he put his hands in his pockets, looking around once more.

"Hm?" Dr. Whale thought out loud.

"What?" David asked as they walked towards the center of the cemetery.

"Huh? Oh, it's just-I haven't seen Regina's Mercedes anywhere."

"Yeah...that's why we're looking for her."

"But don't you think we would've seen her car after driving around the whole town today? Especially HER car? I mean, yeah. No one has a more conspicuous car than Miss Swan and her yellow Beetle, but no one else has a black Mercedes Benz. We would've definitely seen it SOMEWHERE in such a small town like this...It wasn't even at the house."

David thought about it for a second. "Hm?"

"Yeah." Victor pointed out just before they reached their destination.

"Regina? Hello?" Victor poked his head through the door of one of the private rooms of the mausoleum. "Not in here." He said to David. "I'm surprised we even found our way down here." The doctor said referring to the fact that they realized they had to move Regina's father's coffin to find a staircase underneath it.

"Emma told me that Henry showed her how this morning. Victor." David said as he caught up to him and looked in the first room down the stairs. "Of course she's not in there."

"What-"

"Where would she most likely be right now?"

Doctor Frankenstein thought for a second as he knew he'd been a fool.

"Jasmine."

David nodded and they left the first room and went to the second one, seeing the newest looking plaque on the casket inside with the words 'Jasmine Mills' on it.

"I don't see her, but I think she was here." Victor analyzed.

"Why?"

"Fresh flowers." He picked up the bouquet on top of the coffin.

"No. Those are Henry's. Emma told me they brought them earlier."

"Oh."

David set Olivia's carseat down and walked closer to the crypt, nicely taking the flowers from Victor and putting them back where they belonged.

"She's not in here." Victor said when David checked on the ground behind Jasmine's casket.

"Where else should we-"

They thought they heard something. Victor left Jasmine's vault in a hurry and David followed, picking up Olivia's carrier on the way out the door. When they finally searched the whole mausoleum, they realized that no one was there and they headed out.

"Where else haven't we looked?" David wondered.

"Well, we've been everywhere except the outskirts of town."

Suddenly, David's eyes widened and he gently set is foot on the brakes, so as not to harm Olivia.

"What?" Victor wondered.

"The town line. She can't leave." He turned the truck around and headed towards the 'Leaving Storybrooke' sign.

Even there...nothing. Where was she? She couldn't have left. That wasn't possible. It was night time now and they had been searching all day.

"Wait!" Victor said quietly, to not wake Olivia in the backseat.

"What?" David practically whispered.

"I do know one place we haven't looked yet."

"Really? Where?"

"The Rabbit Hole."

"Victor, that-"

"Come on. It's the only place we haven't looked. We should at least try."

David knew that Regina despised the small bar near the Stroybrooke border, but Victor was right. It was the only place they haven't looked, so they might as well check.

When they pulled up to the parking lot, there was no sign of her car, but they thought they should check inside.

"I'll stay in here with Olivia." Victor said as David got out before him.

Charming looked through the driver's side window that was rolled down about an inch. "Okay. I'll ask around, but if she's not in there, this is it for the night and we'll look tomorrow. Olivia needs to get home and sleep."

"Fine." Victor replied.

David entered the bar from the chilly air outside. He looked around and saw people playing pool and a potential fight beginning between two drunk men by the juke box. Not seeing Regina, he approached the counter calling for a bartender.

"Hello, Prince James." The overtired and overworked man emphasized as he came over to him while wiping the counter between the both of them.

"It's David."

"Yeah, whatever. What can I get ya?" He didn't sound too thrilled to be working tonight.

"Nothing, but I need to know. Have you seen Regina around here?"

"Ha! Have I seen the Evil Queen?" The bartender laughed and David didn't understand why. "She's been all over every guy in this place since last night."

"What do you mean?"

"See for yourself."

He pointed to the back corner of the bar at a booth where Regina was seen whispering something in Jefferson's ear. They both laughed and Regina pretty much attacked him with her lips. Sitting on the other side of her was a man with dark hair that David was certain he had never seen before.

To his surprise, after Regina was done making out with the Mad Hatter, she turned to the anonymous man on the other side of her to kiss him. All three, obviously wasted.

David sighed. "Thank you." The bartender returned to taking other men's orders and David glared at the three in the back table.

He was about to walk towards them calling out Regina's name when he heard his own name from behind him.

"Hey, Charming!"

He turned around and saw Grumpy standing there. "What is it, Leroy?"

"Something's wrong with the queen."

"Yeah. I can see that." An annoyed tone clearly showing.

"No. I mean she's had her hands and lips all over every man in this bar. She tried a pass at me, but I called her the Evil Queen and she flipped out. I don't know what's gotten into her."

David put his hands on his hips. "I do."

"Davy!"

Charming's eyes widened and Leroy walked away as David turned around to see Regina and the two men walking towards him. Regina was in the middle and both men were trying their hardest to hold her up as she clung both arms around each of their shoulders.

"Regina, you-"

"I'd like you to meet Jefferson." She pointed to the man on her left before turning and looking at him. Realizing she pointed to the wrong man, she started giggling and the two men laughed. "I mean THIS is Jefferson." She pointed to the right one. "And this is Killian Jones." She rubbed her hand on the other man's chin before starting to laugh again. "He just arrived on his pirate ship. He goes by Captain Hook." She made a child's pouty face when she said 'Captain Hook' and a fake hook with her forefinger. Then she started giggling again.

"Right. Okay. Regina, you need to come with me right now."

"What? Why?" She almost started crying.

"Because. You're not acting like yourself and I think you've had too much to drink."

"Nah! Davy, don't be like that." She tried touching his chin but he pulled away. "We're just having fun." She started giggling again, looking down at the floor.

"What's so funny?"

She looked up at him. "Davy..." She pointed at David. "Jones." She pointed to Hook and she looked at Jefferson before all three drunks died laughing. David crossed his arms. "Aw. Don't look so upset! You would love being a pirate. Why don't you have a drink, baby?"

"Don't-" She tried touching him again as he backed up once more. "Don't call me 'baby.'"

"But you're my-" She stopped what she was saying and gasped, letting go of Jefferson as she saw someone behind David. "Neal! Neal! Bae, come back!" She used her free hand to gesture for a third drunk man to join them and he came over, putting an arm around Regina's waist.

"This is Neal." She laughed. "His other name is Baelfire...Get it? Bae?" For some reason, she thought that was even funnier than 'Davy Jones.'

"He travelled here with Mr. Jones on his big-" She laughed. "His big ship!" She kissed Neal on the cheek. "Where have you been?" She asked the new man.

"I had to get us more drinks."

"Well, where are they?" The queen asked intensely, her mascara smudged and her hair a little frizzy.

Neal looked around before he started laughing. "I forgot them." She joined in his laughter and Jefferson smacked her right on the butt.

"That's it! Regina, we're leaving." David grabbed one of her hands and attempted to pull her with him, but she forced her hand away.

"No! I think YOU...should STAY. Come on, it'll be fun!"

"Regina, no. I'm leaving and you're coming with me."

"Hey. Hey, everyone!" Regina yelled, getting the attention of every person in the bar. "Meet Prince 'Charming.'" She used finger quotations for the word 'Charming.' "A man who doesn't know how to have fun." She stopped what she was saying to look at him and laugh as she let go of the three men holding her and got in David's face. "All because he's been brainwashed!" She looked around at the other guests. "Mhm! Brainwashed...By the precious Snow White." She looked down and giggled again.

"I-I want you all to know something!" She yelled, walking passed David and spreading her arms out wide on the word 'all.' "This is the right man to rule the town. He's a prince, he's caring, he's charming-"

"Regina, that's enough."

"-he's handsome, and he knows practically every woman in this town...if you know what I mean." Her words were slurred and she laughed at herself. "AND...He certainly knows his way around the-"

"Alright! Alright!" David called out to everyone. "Show's over. Continue with what you were doing."

"You men could all certainly use him as a mentor." She winked at Happy who sat at a booth near the front door.

David grabbed her arms and turned her toward him as everyone else started to ignore them.

"Regina. Victor and I have been looking for you all-"

She gasped. "Vicky? I miss my Dr. Feelgood! Where is he?"

"He's out in the truck with Olivia." He said as if he were trying to knock some sense into her.

"Olivia?" She suddenly went quiet and her smile faded in the snap of a finger.

"Yes! Our daughter! Remember? The one you haven't seen in three weeks?"

Suddenly, Regina got very sad.

"Look, she misses you. She needs you. It's time to go home."

She nodded and let him lead her out to the truck and she passed out in the backseat on the way home.


	34. Aftermath

"Alright." David whispered as he turned the truck off in the driveway of the mayoral mansion on Mifflin Street. "You quietly take Regina and I'll bring Olivia."

"Okay." Victor opened his door.

"But! Quietly!" Charming whispered a little louder as he got out himself.

"Got it." Whale whispered back.

David led Victor to the front door as he carried Olivia's carseat and Regina slept in Victor's arms.

"Be careful." David whispered as Victor began to ascend the stairs up to the master bedroom and David followed behind, going to the nursery.

"Give her a kiss for me." Victor whispered to David as they parted ways. "I'll wait in here for you so you can remove the covers before I set her down...My hands are kinda full."

"Okay. I'll be right in." David silently turned the light on in the nursery and walked in as Victor entered Regina's room.

After a few minutes, David came in behind Victor, who stood not too far from the door, Regina still peacefully sleeping in his arms.

"You got the covers?" Whale asked.

David remembered that her shoes were still on and they were stilettos that he didn't think looked very comfortable. "We should take her shoes off first."

"Here. I got it. You take her."

"Why?"

"Because I know where she keeps these ones. They're her special shoes."

"Really?!" David asked frustratedly as Regina was now in his arms. "She could've put them back tomorrow."

"Have you seen the house?" Victor whispered as he took off the second shoe, ignoring the disgusted look he received from David. "Okay. I'll be right back."

Victor went to go put Regina's shoes in her walk-in closet and he removed the covers from the bed when he returned. David set her down gently and Victor made sure her pillow was in the right place feom the other side of the bed. Victor helped David pull the covers over her. He walked around to her side of the bed and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. David watched him leave before leaning over and kissing her as well. He began to leave but he stopped when he heard Regina mumbling something.

"What?" He whispered, hoping she'd speak up.

"She would've been 18 today." He sighed as he looked down at her, her eyes still closed.

Unaware of what to say, he knelt down next to the bed to be at eye level with her and she barely opened her eyes. She hummed quietly as he rubbed her head and gave her a weak, comforting smile. As she closed her eyes, he stood up and left the room, looking back at her whil he turned the light off and shut the door.

Both men met in the lobby near the front door.

"So, someone clearly needs to stay and look after them. Regina's way too drunk to get up when Olivia starts to cry at three o'clock in the morning." David said, now that he knew his baby's exact sleeping schedule, having dealt with it for a while.

"Alright, fine. But who's gonna stay?"

"Well, it should obviously be me. Since I'm Olivia's father."

"Yes, but I don't have a car to get home." Victor had a good point. David thought for a moment. "Look, why don't we both just stay since I told Regina we wouldn't fight over her and that way, you can stay and take care of Olivia."

"And that way, you won't have to walk home."

"Exactly."

"Fine. I'll take the floor in the living room."

"No. Why don't you take the couch and I'll take the floor." Victor tried to convince.

"No. I'll take the floor. You're a doctor and you're gonna need some sleep before you go on your shift tomorrow."

Victor thought about it. "Fine."

They got extra blankets from the closet and David kept the baby monitor by his side as they settled in.

"Thank you."

"For what?" David wondered.

"For helping me look for her."

David opened his and looked up at him on the couch. "Of course...You would've done it, too."

Victor gently smiled and folded his hands under his head. "Good night, Charming."

David rolled over on his side and closed his eyes, holding the baby monitor in one hand. "Good night, Whale."

"David? David, wake up!"

David jumped awake as Victor shook him on the floor. Sitting up, his eyesight came into focus as he realized Victor was holding Olivia and kneeling beside him on the floor.

"Wake up."

"I'm up. I'm up. What is it?"

"She's gone."

"What?!" All of a sudden, Charming was wide awake. "What do you mean she's gone?"

"I mean gone. Not here. I checked her bedroom and...she left."

David rubbed his eyes with one hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. Olivia began to cry and David stood up.

"I'll go get her a bottle. Regina keeps some in the fridge. I'll be right back."

Victor sat down on the couch and began bouncing Olivia to try and get her calm down a bit. She didn't stop crying completely, but her sobs weren't as violent and there were less tears.

"Here." David handed him the now-warmed-up milk and Victor laid the baby on his left forearm to feed her. "Do you have any idea where she may be?"

"How should I know? She doesn't talk to me anymore." Victor answered, annoyedly.

"Well, she doesn't talk to me either. The only thing she talks to me about is Henry and Olivia."

"Well, I don't know what you want ME to say."

David scoffed and rolled his eyes at him from behind the couch. They heard a noise come from outside and both turned their heads toward the window. Unable to see anything, David walked over to it to look to the side.

"She's back."

"She is?"

"Yeah." David rushed to the front door and opened it just before she could put her hand on the handle. "Where have you been?"

She stepped in and he closed it behind her. She saw Victor feeding the baby on the couch.

"We were worried." The doctor said over his shoulder.

"Well, you can stop worrying." She snapped. "I just went to go get my car."

"Where was it, by the way?" Victoe wondered.

"THAT...is none of your business."

"Regina-" David began, but he stopped when she turned around to look at him.

"What?" She asked in a softer tone.

"We just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"I was fine." She hesitated to answer Victor's question. "It was at Jefferson's. I went over the other day to, uh...discuss some things with him. One thing led to another and we somehow ended up driving his car to The Rabbit Hole. That's all you need to know."

"Fine." David said defensively, still standing by the front door. "No big deal...Just wanted to make sure nothing happened to you and...Olivia missed you." Regina turned away from him and looked at the baby in Victor's arms. "That explains what you were doing for the last 3 days, but what have you been doing the last three weeks, Regina? No calls, no answers...Not even a warning telling me that you were gonna disappear like that. Were you even thinking about us?"

"'Us'? Who's 'us'? There is no 'us'!"

"When it comes to our daughter...there is!" David snapped.

"David!" She looked over her shoulder at him again. "Not now!"

He stared at her for a few seconds before she began to feel uncomfortable and looked back at Olivia as Victor finished feeding her. She smiled, trying to forget about David behind her, and walked around the couch to take Olivia from Whale.

"Hi, Olivia! Hi!" She said as Victor handed her over prior to her sitting down next to him. Regina turned to mother mode and Victor and her made faces at the baby in her arms.

"Okay." David said angirly as he looked at them from behind the couch. "You know what? Give me a call the next time you need me, because clearly you don't."

"David-" Regina rolled her eyes.

"No, it's fine. You just need me to watch Olivia so you can go out acting like a teenager. So the next time you feel like drinking until you can't stand up, call me! I'm here for my daughter." He turned around and opened the door to leave, but before he left he said, "And next time, I'll still make sure I look everywhere for you. Because I'll be the one who always comes back!"

At that, he slammed the door and Olivia began to whine. Victor looked at Regina, whose focus was on her little angel and he saw that look in her eyes. The look that the Evil Queen always wore. It was the careless and unloving look. Except for her love of Olivia, of course. That nothing and no one else mattered but her child.


	35. New Arrivals

A/N: This chapter is pretty short, but I like where it ends. Hope you enjoy and review! Mwah!

David slammed the door to his motel room shut and he paced back and forth before frustratedly throwing his keys. Once he realized that he needed to calm down, he stopped pacing and took a deep breath with his hands on his hips. Suddenly, his hand reached up to his mouth and he sat down on the wardrobe at the foot of the bed. He felt tears begin to build up.

"David!" He heard a knock on his door. "David?"

He sniffed. "One second." He yelled as he wiped away one of the tears that had fallen. He made sure he got himself together before walking over and finally opening the door.

"David."

"Emma. What's going on?"

"We found something." She said, trying to sound like she was in the middle of an investigation.

"We?"

"Well, I found something."

"Well, what is it?"

All of a sudden, he saw a sort of panic in her eyes and he invited her in, leading her to the bed and sitting down beside her as she tried to figure out a way to tell him why she was having a hard time breathing.

"Emma? What is it?"

She kept her eyes on the floor in front of her. "I'm sorry. I don't even know why I came here."

"It's okay. Just, tell me what's up."

She took a deep breath and finally turned her head to look at him. "It's Henry's father."

In shock, David looked away to figure out if he heard correctly. "What about him?"

"He's here."

"He's here? In-In Storybrooke?"

"Yeah."

"How-How is that possible?"

"I don't know, but he doesn't even know about Henry." They were silent for a minute and tears built up in her eyes. "Dad?" Her voice cracked. "What am I supposed to do?" She leaned over into his chest, surprising him, and it took him a second before he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back as she cried softly.

After a while, she moved away from him to look into his eyes.

"How did you find out he was here?" David wondered.

"Well, Henry and I were walking down by the docks and there was a pirate ship there and-"

"A pirate ship? Are you sure?"

"Yes."

David was totally shocked. He remembered Regina saying that two of the men she was with last night arrived on such a vessel, but he thought it was just the alcohol talking.

"Anyways," Emma continued. "We were curious and we walked to Granny's to see if anyone had seen anyone new, or at least heard about it. We got there and there were a ton of men, around 15 or 16, that we had never seen before. We were about to ask around when I saw Neal and-"

"Neal?!"

"Yes. That's him. Neal is Henry's father."

"Well, how did they come to Storybrooke? I thought that no one could come or leave." David tried to forget about the fact that the man Emma said Henry's father was, might be a guy that his adoptive mother was hanging all over last night.

"Apparently, that's not true when you come through a portal."

"They came through a portal?! What kind of portal?"

"A magic bean. I guess 'Captain Hook' had one and they came here, trying to escape 'Neverland?'" When she said the words 'Captain Hook' and 'Neverland,' she was having trouble believing it herself.

But David on the other hand, he believed it. Oh, he believed it all having seen both Captain Hook AND Neal the night before.

"What did Henry say about this? What did your MOTHER say about all this?"

"Mary Margaret doesn't know and Henry knows they're here, but he doesn't know that Neal's his father."

"Snow doesn't know?" David looked at the floor in front of him and tried to stay emotionally calm.

"No. I came right here as soon as I dropped Henry off at Regina's."

The second she said 'Regina,' Charming's eyes shot right back to his daughter and he had no idea what to say.

"Are they dangerous?"

"Huh?" Emma snapped out of her own daze.

"The..." Even Prince Charming was having trouble saying this. "The pirates? Are they dangerous?"

"I don't know yet. But I do know that Neal is not the most trustworthy person."

"Well, we'll keep an eye on them and I bet we can find out what they're doing here."

"How?"

"I may know someone who can get them to talk."

"Really?"

David didn't want to tell her anything about Regina or last night.

"Yes. But how are you gonna keep Henry from finding out about his father?"

"I don't know yet. But I will find a way."

"He has a point, you know." Victor said to Regina beside her on the couch after David left.

"About what?" Regina wondered as she burped Olivia.

"He cares about you and you haven't been very fair to him."

"What do you mean?"

"You've just...kept him around because he has the right to see his daughter, but he wants to be here for you. And you won't let him. You won't let me either. But David deserves better than that." He stood up and looked down at her as she was thinking about what he just said. "I have to go to work." He bent down and kissed Olivia on the head before walking around the couch and leaving.

After he left, Regina knew that Whale definitely had more to say, but didn't. She thought about it for the rest of the day and even as she slept that night.


	36. Failures And Favors

Both Henry and Regina were slightly startled by the sudden knock on the door as they stood in the kitchen and made breakfast. They each had steered clear of talking about the last few weeks and Henry tried his hardest not to ask her what happened the night before. After the third sequence of knocking, they heard a voice yelling for Regina.

"I need a favor! Please!" They heard the anxious voice from outside.

She really didn't want to answer it now, hearing that it was David's voice, but she suspected that he wouldn't stop knocking unless she did. Or he'd walk right in as he used to before she got pregnant.

"I'll be right back." She said as she walked by her son and felt his hair as she walked by. "Feed Olivia for me, please?" She pointed to the small can of baby food by her carseat on the counter and Henry agreed as he reached for it and grabbed a baby spoon from a drawer when she left.

"Regina." David said anxiously when she opened the door. As always, he stepped passed her without even waiting for her to invite him in.

She rolled her eyes and shut the door behind him before turning around to glare at him. "David, if this is about 'us' then I can't talk right now."

"No, Regina. This is about the other night at the bar."

"David, I-"

"Where's Henry?"

Suddenly confused, Regina answered slowly. "In the kitchen with Olivia. Why?"

He gestured for her to follow him into the family room because it was further away from the kitchen and he suspected it'd be harder for Henry to hear them from in there.

"David, what-"

"The pirates that were in the bar the other night, did they say how they got here?"

"David, if this is about some sort of jealously thing, I'm not gonna-"

"No, Regina!" He whispered loudly. "This is important." He looked through the doorway, passed the foyer and into the kitchen, seeing only Henry's back at a stool by the counter and he relaxed and looked back to Regina.

Realizing his slight anxiety right now, she also began to whisper and she decided to answer him. "They said they came on their ship, why?"

"And they didn't tell you HOW they came on their ship?"

Suddenly, she felt a little nervous by the tone in his voice, and she couldn't remember if they had told her or not. "I don't remember, why?"

"Apparently they came from Neverland with a magic bean."

She didn't know what to say to that. "Why are you telling me this David?" She tried keeping her voice down.

He looked out into the kitchen one more time and then continued with what he was saying. "Henry's father was on that ship."

"What? No, that's-" Suddenly, she felt the same thing she felt the first day she met Emma. She felt threatened by this man, thinking he had come to take Henry away from her. This time, SHE was the one who looked out through the foyer and into the kitchen at her son. "Did he come to take Henry?" All of a sudden he heard the sort of panic in her voice.

"No. No. He doesn't even know about Henry. And Henry doesn't know about him either. That's why we're making sure he can't hear us. It's also why I came here." She just looked at him. And the way she looked at him was strange, so he lost his train of thought for a moment. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"What?" She blinked and looked down. "Oh, nothing. Sorry. Why did you come here?"

"Because, he doesn't know about Henry. So we have no clue what their purpose of being here is. Did they tell you WHY they came to Storybrooke?"

Suddenly, she felt like crying. "No. No, I didn't ask." It was silent for a moment. "Who's his father?" She finally wondered.

He wasn't sure he wanted to tell her.

"David! Who's Henry's father?"

"It's..." He looked back to find Henry in the kitchen once more.

"David."

"It's Neal."

Her jaw opened slowly and she turned away from him, thinking. "Oh."

"And I know that he knows you." He stopped for a moment and mumbled to himself. "Obviously."

Pretending she didn't hear him, Regina thought for a moment as she lifted her head to look out the window, her back still to David. "And you need me to talk to him."

"Or any of the other pirates. We just need to know why they're here."

Regina lowered her head once more and sighed. She knew that this meant she'd probably have to get one of them wasted again as well as getting drunk herself. Not that she'd tell David that of course, because he'd refuse.

He stepped closer to her from behind, but she didn't notice until she suddenly turned around and almost bumped into him, their bodies touching, creating butterflies that they haven't felt in a long time. She kept her head straight, looking at his pecks as he hovered over her and he looked down at her, staring at his chest. She slowly looked up into his eyes and they heard Olivia crying in the kitchen. When they both turned their heads, they saw Henry in the doorway, looking at them.

"Henry." Regina stepped away from David, causing him to immediately put his head down, taking a deep breath as he thought to himself.

'What's wrong with me?' He mouthed as both Henry and Regina had their backs turned.

"Did you feed her like I asked?" Regina demanded of Henry as she walked frantically back to the kitchen.

"I tried to feed her, but she wouldn't eat it."

She returned with Olivia in her arms and she bounced as she tried getting her to calm down. She even checked her diaper and it was clean. Regina was panicking. She made sure no one knew, but she was.

Lately, she felt as though she'd been a failure as a mother and she couldn't do anything right. Olivia cried almost all the time and Henry always seemed bored when he was with them. He got annoyed at having to help with his baby sister and she knew that drinking and rebelling did nothing to make her a better mother.

She continued to bounce and tried to soothe Olivia but nothing happened. She saw Henry roll his eyes before she turned around as she paced slowly trying to quiet the baby.

"She's always like this." Henry said, annoyed. "Something's wrong with her."

"Henry." David said as he saw the saddened look on Regina's face before she turned away from him.

"What? All she does is cry now. None of us can sleep because everytime we close our eyes, she-"

"She's a baby, Henry. What did you expect?" David tried helping.

"She wasn't like this before." Henry said, barely loud enough for them to hear.

"Henry, enough!" That was a voice both males hadn't heard in a while. And a voice Olivia had never heard before.

"It's true." Henry retorted, ignoring the glare he received from his mother. "She just doesn't stop."

"Henry-" David said softly, but Regina cut him off.

"Well, she's a baby, Henry! Do you think that YOU were a quiet baby?" He didn't answer. "Because you were worse than this!" That was not supposed to come out at all. She regretted saying it right away. And she regretted it even more when she saw the look on his face before he ran up to his room.

"Henry!" She called after him.

"I got it." David said as he was about to walk towards the stairs.

But before he could leave the family room, Regina handed him the still crying Olivia and she ran after her son.

David stared at the set of stairs before realizing that Olivia had stopped crying. He turned to look at her in his arms before putting a comforting hand on her head over his shoulder and he returned to looking up at the door at the top of the staircase as it was slammed shut, locking Regina out.

"Henry? Henry, I'm sorry. Please let me in." She waited for an answer. "Please, Henry?" She slowly began to give up and she turned around and leaned against the door. It was silent for a moment, before she thought about what might work. "Please, my little Prince?"

A few seconds passed and Regina moved away from the door as Henry slowly opened it and let her in, causing David's tense shoulders to relax and he slightly smiled before turning around and sitting on the couch in the family room.

"That's not possible." Mr. Gold whispered to himself after he gasped in his office.

Hearing his remark, Belle quickly stepped through the blanket hanging over the doorway that led to the back of the pawn shop. "What is it? What's happened?" She asked frantically.

Upon seeing what sat on the desk in front of him, her brows furrowed with confusion and her head retreated back as she wondered what the white sphere was.

"Nothing. It's just...it's probably a mistake."

"Wh-what do you mean?" She stepped beside him in order to get a closer look and she saw that seemed to be a white globe with the red for land. She saw, what she believed to be, a darker red dot over the state of Maine, where Storybrooke might be. "What's that?" She asked aloud, hoping he wouldn't give her the run-around like he usually did.

"It's a map."

"A map?"

"Yes. It's enchanted." He turned to face her.

"How?" Before he could answer, she looked down at his hand, which he had held out in front of him. "You're bleeding." She turned and grabbed the first thing she saw to use it on his finger.

"Belle, no!" He tried to stop her.

"Just let me-"

"Stop!" Startled, she backed away and he took the cloth from her.

"I'm sorry, I just-I wanted to help stop the-"

"But not with this."

Instead of arguing, Belle realized it had some sort of importance to him, so she agreed and grabbed a handkerchief from his desk, pressing it into his hand. "Here." She said as he took it, staring at her, mesmerized by how understanding she was. "Was that his?" She finally asked.

"What?"

"Was that his? Your son?" She pointed to the globe on the desk.

"This? No."

"But this was." She assumed, gesturing towards the shawl still in Rumple's good hand.

"Yes." He said.

She looked back to the globe and watched as the red silhouette of North America slowly evaporated and became a plain white sphere again. "Enchanted, you said?"

He followed her back over to the desk and answered her. "I got it from an old friend."

"What's it do?"

"It has a locater spell. But there's a catch."

"And what's that?"

"Whoever shall use it, must use it only to find a blood relative."

"And that's why you were bleeding." She didn't need an answer and he knew that. They stood in silence for a moment as she thought of how fascinating this globe was. "That's it. You were trying to find him, weren't you?"

"I had a plan." He picked up the globe and moved it to a safe place in the back of a hidden cabinet. "To find where he is and go to him."

"Go to him how? No one in Storybrooke can come or go. You'll lose your memories if you do." She said, in her usual worried tone.

"Not if I use this." He turned away from the cabinet and lifted the shawl a little higher. "I have a potion I've been working on. A person can leave, as long as they have their most precious item with them. For me, it is this."

"I thought it was our tea cup." She said a little flirty, stepping closer to him and taking the handkerchief from his bad hand, which had finally stopped bleeding. She smiled up at him as she put her arms around his neck.

"It is. But that's also your diadem and if anything were to happen when I left, I would've wanted you to have it in case you had to come get me."

"Had to? What do you mean? Are you not going?"

"Well, from what I just learned from that globe, apparently I don't have to cross the town line to find my Baelfire."

"He's here?" She sounded so excited he couldn't take it. "Wait. Is that possible? Are you sure that globe was correct?"

"I don't know how it couldn't be."

She widely grinned and gave him a kiss before pulling her head back to look him deeply in the eye with a look of determination and hope.

"Then let's go find your son."

A/N: Hey, readers. Sorry it's been so long. School has been keeping me pretty busy. But i hope you liked this chapter. Please leave your reviews. Lots of love. Mwah!


	37. Selfish

A/N: Omg! Sorry, it's been so long. I've been super busy with filming and the premiere of my movie and I'm the lead in the school play (which is tonight lol) as well as an off Broadway play in New York City. I've also had a terrible case of writer's block and one day some new ideas just hit me. I hope you enjoy these next few chapters. This story's not over yet! xD Mwah!

"Alright, David." Regina said when she stepped off of the last stair into the foyer and walked into the family room.

He stood, still holding Olivia, and turned to see her weakly smiling.

"I'll do it tonight."

"What?"

"I'll talk to one of the pirates tonight. But you're gonna have to watch Henry and Olivia for me." Her smile faded when she gently rubbed Olivia's back over David's right shoulder as he stepped closer to her.

"Okay." He stared at her for a moment, and this time HE was the one looking at HER strangely. But she didn't ask, knowing that it was the same look she had just given him not too long ago. "How's Henry?" He finally decided to ask. "It SOUNDS like everything's okay. I thought I heard laughing up there." He grinned.

She looked up to the top of the stairs and smiled, remembering the actual fight that turned into a tickle fight in his bedroom a few minutes ago. "He's fine. I just-need to stop snapping at him when I'm stressed out." She half mumbled to herself when she said, "It's not his fault I'm worse at being a mother than I thought."

"You're a good mother." David retorted. "With a short temper, that's all."

It took her a moment to realize he was making a joke and she lightly chuckled. That caused him to smile as he remembered how long it had been since he had been the one to make her laugh.

"Hey, Grandpa." Henry said as he joyfully came down the stairs.

"Hey." David smiled up at him.

"Hon."

"Yeah, Mom?" Henry repiled.

"I'm gonna have you stay with David tonight, okay?"

"At Granny's? Why can't I just stay with Emma?"

"Because, maybe your grandfather wants to spend some time with you." David answered as he rustled Henry's hair.

Regina made a weird look when he said 'grandfather.'

"What do you say we go out for lunch and then get some ice cream?"

"Now?" Henry wondered. "Mom hasn't even finished making breakfast yet."

"Well, why don't we eat breakfast and then you, David, and Olivia go out to the park? THEN you can go get lunch and have ice cream?"

"Sure." Henry smiled.

"And why don't you stay for breakfast? It won't make sense for you to leave and then come back." Regina said to David.

"What are we having?" He asked Henry, while still smiling at Regina.

"Apple pancakes." Henry said enthusiastically as he ran to the kitchen and yelled, "I'm gonna finish stirring the mix!"

"Thanks." David said after laughing at Henry's sudden return to his usual self.

"No, thank you." Regina replied before she turned and they walked to the kitchen to join Henry.

If it weren't for Henry and his optimism and excitement, breakfast would've been bittersweet. David and Regina hardly spoke a word to eachother. They were overly polite and extremely friendly, but never did they say anything too revealing of their emotions. The truth is that there were too many to reveal.

Regina looked at herself in the mirror before she was about to leave the house and head for The Rabbit Hole. How she was going to get home she had no idea, but right now she didn't care. All she knew was that she called the bar and asked if the pirates were there, which she knew was dumb because they were pirates. Of course they'd be at a bar. But she had to make sure anyways.

She put on her light jacket and opened the door, surprised at what she was seeing when it revealed Victor standing on the porch with his arm in the air as if he were just about to knock when she opened it.

"Victor, wha-"

"Really, Regina?"

"What?"

"You're going out, aren't you?"

"What would make you say that?"

"It's Thursday."

"So? Why does the day of the week matter?"

"Well, two reasons. First of all, David only has Olivia on the weekends and I saw him not too long ago with your son and daughter at the ice cream shop down the street from Granny's. That means you needed him to watch them so you could go out drinking tonight. Which brings us to number two. No normal person drinks on a Thursday night unless they're an alcoholic. And I know. I used to be one."

"Victor-" She tried stepping passed him, but he put his hands up on the door frame to prevent her from leaving.

"Regina this has to stop."

"Victor, this is none of your concern, okay? Just let me go."

"No. There's no reason for you to treat David like this."

"What? What are you talking about?" She stopped trying to escape.

"Remember what I said the other day?"

"Yes? In fact that's all I've been able to think about since. But I don't understand what that has to do with me going out."

"You don't? Well, the fact that you and I spent some time together and you were trying your hardest to stop me from drinking and now YOU are. And the fact that you have been treating David more like a babysitter than a father." She rolled her eyes and smiled, trying to get passed him once more. "He got divorced for you and you just-"

"Wait! What?" She was suddenly weak and it was barely audible as she whispered. "He got-" She took a deep breath in. "How long?"

"Oh, it's been about a little more than two months now." Victor answered sarcastically like it was no big deal.

"Wh-Why didn't he tell me?" She asked herself aloud.

"I don't know. But listen, I love you. And he loves you. And we don't want you to be alone. And neither did Jas-"

"Stop." She finally decided to just be unlike a queen for one second as she ducked under his arm unlady like and walked passed him.

He had to jog almost to catch up to her down the path towards her car after shutting the front door. He shouted after her.

"Regina, she made that wish so you could be happy." He almost ran into her as she stopped abruptly and turned around to face him.

"I don't know why she made that wish, but it wasn't for me." She practically shouted back at him.

"No. You're right. She didn't." Regina turned around and continued to walk to the car. "She made it for all of us." She stopped again. This time, her hand was on the handle of the driver's side door to the car. "And the only way we can all be together is if we're here, in this world. You can be with David now Regina. The Dark Curse has been lifted by your daughter's dying wish and instead of you trying to grant that wish, your feeling sorry for yourself. Well, you know what. You don't have to. Because I feel sorry for you."

She turned around and gave him her Evil Queen glare.

"See? That's who you really are. Not this weak little thing that lets others push her around. You don't cry and that's exactly why you haven't cried since Jasmine died. Because it's who you are." He took a step toward her and got in her face. "I guess you are still selfish."

"Selfish?!" She asked appallingly.

"Yes. You're selfish. Just because YOU won't take you're happy ending, other people are deprived of theirs. That's selfish. You stand around all day and party all night because you feel sorry for yourself. That's damn well selfish. You won't visit your daughter's grave because you don't want to feel the pain. And that's selfish."

Suddenly, he felt the hard slap to the face and he stepped back from the impact.

"You have no idea how I feel!" She looked at him holding his cheek. "I have to go." She turned around to leave, but she heard her name come from behind Victor, who turned around to see. His hand still cupping his face.

"Regina."

"What do you want?" Regina asked angrily. "Where are the kids?"

"They're with Emma." She rolled her eyes. "Regina."

"What, David?!" She asked annoyingly.

"Victor had an idea."

"You need to see her." Dr. Whale stepped in carefully, so as not to get his feet burned.

"Not tonight. I'm sorry, but I've got a favor to fulfill. YOURS, by the way." She reminded David.

"This is more important." Charming said softly.

"I'm not going." Regina said as she turned around and opened the car door.

"We thought you might say that." Victor said before he and David stepped to the side and Mr. Gold walked in between them.

"You can't-"

Before she could finish, Rumple waved his hands and in a cloud of smoke, all four of them were in the Mills' family mausoleum. Jasmine's coffin lay in between Regina and the other three.


	38. Something New

"What is this?" Regina asked frustratedly.

"You know exactly what this is." Gold said, stepping with his cane toward the casket and swiping his hand across Jasmine's name plate. After, he looked at his hand and rubbed his fingers together, demonstrating the dust that began to build up in the three months she's been there.

"It's time for you to feel." David said.

"I do feel!" She snapped. "Why do you think I drink every night?" She refused to move. Her feet were glued in one spot to the floor.

"So you don't feel." Victor understood, being a former drunk himself. "But you know what, Reggi?"

"Don't call me that-"

"What happens when you wake up?" She didn't answer. "What's different?" She still just looked at him, really wanting to kill something right now. "Nothing." He answered for her. "Nothing changes. You still feel horrible about everything and nothing is different. She's still gone."

Regina looked away from him, trying to ignore the fact that he was right. All four were silent and she still hadn't moved yet.

"I remember when you told Jasmine something." David broke the silence and walked over to the coffin, slowly setting his hand on it. "'It's alright to be vulnerable sometimes.'" He whispered, causing Regina's eyes to move toward him. He kept his eyes closed for a moment as if he were trying to remember something. "'Sometimes even the strongest people need a shoulder to cry on.'" His eyes opened and looked right into hers. "'So, go ahead...Cry.'"

For a moment, she couldn't move, she couldn't even breathe. Suddenly, she began to hyperventilate just for a second before her eyes closed and she slowly stepped closer to the casket and reached her hand out to touch it. As soon as her hand made contact, the tears fell.

She sobbed, barely audible, for a few seconds and the three men just stood and waited. Regina took slow, hesitant steps around the coffin to see the cold, dark plaque on the other side, which read her daughter's name. Victor and David's hearts both broke as they watched her fall to her knees beside it, hugging herself, and Gold had to look away. When she stopped crying, she looked up at the name plate on it.

"I-" She sniffed. "I promised Henry I would change. And I've done my best to. I haven't used much magic since I devoted myself to being redeemed."

Rumpelstiltskin slightly lifted his head, unaware of what she might do and David and Victor looked at eachother, confused. Regina's right hand slowly waved in front of her and a bouquet of fresh calla lilies formed in her hand. In the middle of the bouquet was the feather Jasmine had given her outside of the stables the day before she died.

She stood and put the bouquet beside the one that Henry had put there yesterday. Slowly leaning forward, she kissed the name plate. When she leaned back again, it seemed as though they had stayed in the mausoleum for hours in silence.

"Will you be okay alone?" David asked her when Gold magicked them back to the mansion.

"I'll be fine." Regina seemed very stoic.

"Regina-" Victor began, but was interrupted.

"And I better not find out about either of you sleeping here without my permission." She gave them a reprimanding look as if waiting for them to bow down to her. They both defensively nodded and she turned back to her house to walk up the pathway to the front door.

They watched her go inside and they stood there, confused by this new emotion neither have ever seen before.

Aladdin gasped as he sat up in the bed from his nightmare. After a few seconds, he realized that he was back in his bed at Granny's. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he turned to look at the clock on the dresser by the bed. It was three o'clock in the morning and he let out a breath of air as he tried not to cry.

"Are you okay?" He felt the hand on his shoulder blade as she sat up beside him and kissed the bare skin on his left bicep.

"Yeah, I'm-Yeah."

"Was it her again?" She asked sincerely.

He didn't answer, but he looked over his shoulder at her before moving out of her grip around his waist and put his legs over the side of the bed. She put her head down, discouraged, and stood up to walk around to his side of the bed. She knelt down in front of him and put her hands on his knees.

"Hey." She practically whispered, trying to get him to look down to her. "Al. Look at me." He started to cry softly. "Look at me." Her eyes teared up as well, having known Jasmine herself. He finally looked at her. "Everything's gonna be alright." He looked away again. "Aladdin." She gently touched his chin and turned his head to look back to her. "Everything's alright."

He sniffed and closed his eyes as he nodded.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked about the nightmare.

He shook his head. "There's nothing to talk about. She's dead."

"What happened?" She grabbed his hands after wiping away his tears.

"I couldn't save her. That's what happened. I should have been able to." He looked down at her again. "I'm sorry. I just-I guess I just miss her." He looked away from her again and she moved to sit on the bed beside him, still holding his hands.

"So do I." She looked down at her hands clutching his. "I-" She began to tell him something, but paused for a moment. "I love you." She said for the first time.

Caught off guard, Aladdin turned to look at her and she brought her right hand up to his cheek and caressed it. He slowly leaned in for a kiss and she returned it softly before they both lay back on the bed together, falling asleep in eachother's arms.

David awoke the next morning to Henry yelling his name in excitement. It took him a few moments to realize that he was back in his motel room before he finally sat up to see what all the fuss was about.

"David! David!"

"David?" Charming asked, sleepily rubbing his eyes. "What happened to Grandpa?"

"Grandpa!" Henry corrected, too excited to tell him that calling his sister's dad 'Grandpa' was strange.

David was sure he was awake once Henry grabbed his hand, pulling him off the bed and onto the floor next to Olivia on her baby blanket beside it.

"What is it, Henry?"

"Just watch!" Henry smiled, staring at the baby.

They sat and watched for a few seconds before David realized that nothing happened.

"Henry, wha-"

"Ssshh. Just watch."

David looked at his grandson and smiled at the optimism on his face before looking back at his baby girl to see her roll over on her stomach by herself. She tried to get up on her hands and knees, but hadn't quite mastered that ability yet.

"She did it this morning and I wanted you to see it!" Henry said as he saw the completely overwhelmed and excited look on David's face.

"Was that the first time she's done that by herself?" David wondered.

"Besides the one time when you were still sleeping, yes!" Henry answered.

Overjoyed, David picked her up and threw her in the air before kissing her on the cheek multiple times and Henry laughed.

"We should tell my mom!" Henry stood up.

David's smile grew a little smaller, just now realizing that Regina had missed this. "Good idea." He said, happily. "Here." He stood as well, handing Olivia to her big brother before walking over to take his phone from the charger by his bed and dialing the phone number to the mayoral mansion.

He got no answer, so he called her cell. Worried when she ignored his call (he could tell by the fact that it only rang twice), he believed she probably just needed a day to herself. Although, he was so excited to share the news with the mother of his child that they're baby was getting big so fast already...and it was happening with only one parent. Something he never wanted.


	39. All This Time

A/N: Okay. Since it's Christmas and I feel so guilty for the really long wait, I've decided to update these next two chapters together as a gift. I'm sorry for the wait, senior year is crazy, you know? And right after Hunchback of Notre Dame, we started our musical which is Mary Poppins. I have twelve costume changes this year. Omg! Anyways, here's the two new chapters. Love you! Merry Christmas! Mwah!

"What are you doing?" Belle asked as she stepped out into the shop from the back, joining Mr. Gold.

"A locater spell." He answered as he held a closed small potion bottle over the shawl that once belonged to his son.

"You've found a way to track him here?" She wondered, excitedly.

"I've used this spell many times before. It's just that now...I've finally brought myself to using it to find my Bae."

"Now? But why-"

"-have I waited so long?" She nodded. "The last time I saw my son, he called me a coward, because I let him go."

There was a pause as she stepped just a little closer to him. "You're afraid."

"I'm not afraid of anything." He said through cold, gritted teeth. He saw her look of anger, sadness, and fear as he said that and he calmed down. "I'm just wondering if he'd even want to talk to me. I haven't wanted to know the answer to that question for a long time." He turned and looked at the bottle in his hand before slowly taking the cork out. "I guess I'm finally ready to find out." He took a deep breath, pouring the liquid onto the shawl.

Belle watched in amazement as it lifted itself off of the counter and headed towards the exit, the two following the floating object.

They walked after it down the street as it turned into the outdoor seating area at Granny's and floated onward to the front door that lead into the diner. It stopped, landing on the doorknob outside. When Rumple and Belle caught up to it, he took it from the handle and entered the restaurant, overwhelmed by the massive crowd of people gathered there for breakfast.

David, Henry, and Olivia sat at one table near the entrance and David stood with Olivia in his arms as he noticed the presence of the two arrivals.

"Have you met our pirate crew yet?" Charming asked, not too thrilled to say it.

"We're not here for pleasantries." Rumple sneered.

"We're looking for his son." Belle said, trying her hardest not to scold him for his nasty attitude.

"I don't understand. The potion should have worked." The imp said angrily to Belle.

"What potion?" David wondered.

"A uh- locater potion?" Belle answered, unsure if that was exactly right or not. "He poured it onto this shawl that once belonged to his son, but it mustn't work."

"It does." The prince answered. "I've seen it work. When you let me use it to find the Mad Hatter, it worked. If that says that your son is here, then he is."

"I don't see Baelfire anywhere." Gold said quietly.

"Did you say 'Baelfire?'" Charming asked awkwardly.

"I did."

David sighed, remembering that name from finding Regina at The Rabbit Hole a few nights before. He had also been called 'Neal.'

"Your son is Baelfire?"

"Yes." Rumple was getting annoyed. "I just said that."

David put his head down and closed his eyes for a moment, confusing the two standing there. When he looked up he told them, "Your son is here. Only, he doesn't go by Baelfire anymore. His name is Neal and he's come here on the pirate ship that just arrived under the control of Killian Jones. They've come here to escape Neverland, apparently."

Mr. Gold grew furious when he heard that his son had been with the man that stole Milah from him years ago. But he grew weary upon hearing that they had escaped from Neverland, a place where he himself, would never go.

"There is one more thing, too." David said after setting Olivia back down in her carseat across from Henry.

"What?" Belle wondered.

David looked at how close they were standing to the table he and Henry were sitting at before looking around the diner to find a good place to go. The first place he thought of was the closest door, the exit.

He lead them out for just a minute and made sure no one was around before finishing what he had started to say.

"He's Henry's father."

"Who is?" Gold asked, almost angrily.

"Neal."

"Baelfire?" Belle asked to reassure herself as well as Rumple.

"That's not possible." The Dark One said upon seeing Charming's nod.

"Apparently it is."

"Who told you that?" The powerful man asked, convinced it was a lie or, hopefully, a misunderstanding.

"Emma."

"She's lying."

Belle grew nervous hearing that familiar tone return in his voice.

"No. She's not."

"And how do you know she's not?" The beast, slowly growing more vicious.

"Because. When she told me...I had never seen her so terrified before."

"Terrified?" Belle jumped back in.

"Yes."

"What do you mean 'terrified?'" She wondered.

"Terrified at Neal finding out...or worse, Henry."

"Wait." Gold said calmly, pointing a finger at David as if accusing him of something. "So you mean to tell me...that he knew your daughter years before she came to Storybrooke?" He paused. "And Henry's my grandson?"

"Apparently." Charming answered, rubbing his chin with his right hand as his left rested on his hip.

Rumple put his arm down and took one step back as his face relaxed from a scowl to a look of shock and sorrow as he looked down at the ground. "Al-all this time." He whispered to himself.

Suddenly, realizing he had let his guard down for too long, Rumple looked up at David and turned to weakly smile at Belle before turning to look back to Charming once more.

"They came from Neverland, you said?"

"Yes, but we've no idea why they-" David didn't finish his statement as Gold put a hand up to silence him.

"I think I may have one, but first...I need to speak with my son."

David felt a weight lifted off his shoulders as he followed Belle and Rumple back inside. The Dark One was to catch up with his son and David wouldn't have to ask Regina to learn more information from the pirates.

"Wait. One more thing." David said, just before Mr. Gold opened the door back into the diner. The couple turned to look at him. "Don't tell him about Henry. Or vice versa. I think it'd be best for Emma to tell them."

Both hesitantly nodded before resuming their entrance into Granny's Bed and Breakfast.

"Emma? What's wrong?"

"What? Nothing!" The blonde jumped, nearly choking on the spoon she had in her mouth as her mother entered the kitchen abruptly, unannounced.

"Where are Henry and Olivia? I thought David needed you to watch them last night."

"Only for about an hour. He came and picked them back up around nine and they stayed with him at Granny's."

"Still hasn't found an apartment?"

"No. And I feel his pain."

There was a brief moment of silence as Mary Margaret thought of how she'd feel living alone again. "You're thinking about moving?"

"Well...It doesn't exactly look right being a 31 year old who still lives with her mom." Emma put her empty bowl and spoon in the sink and returned to leaning against the counter on her elbows across from her mother.

"But you only just got here. And I'm not that much older than you. It's more like living with a friend."

"Yeah, but that's just as pathetic."

Immediately, Emma wanted to take that back as she saw the look on Snow's face.

"I'm sorry. I just-"

"What's really wrong, Emma?"

"How'd your date go last night? Who was it with anyway?"

"Don't change the subject." Snow said, avoiding Emma's question as well.

Emma sighed and closed her eyes before hesitating to answer. "It's Henry's father."

Unsure of the significance, Snow just stared at her daughter, puzzled.

"He's here."

"In Storybrooke?" Mary Margaret asked, astounded.

"No. In the apartment." The blonde answered sarcastically. "Yes! In Storybrooke." Snow White was in shock and she looked down at the counter in between them. Emma thought out loud, "Geez! David said the same thing when I told him."

This immediately got Snow's attention and she looked back up to Emma. "Wait! You told your father first?" She started to feel a little forgotten. The way she felt when David Nolan chose Kathryn over her a few years ago.

Emma's eyes now flicked to her mother's, the look of guilt and shame shown in them. "I should go. I-"

"Wait!" Mary Margaret stopped Emma from moving as the Savior stood up straight. "Who is he?"

"What? Who?"

"Henry's father. Who is he?"

Emma answered calmly. "You didn't answer me when I asked you that question. So why should I answer you?" She started for the hook near the door and grabbed her coat, Snow keeping her back to her and staring at the counter again.

"I didn't tell you, because I didn't want you to judge me." Mary Margaret answered before turning to see Emma freeze with one arm in her coat, staring at her.

"How could I possibly judge you? My dad is Prince Charming and he divorced Snow White, my mother, to raise his baby with the Evil Queen who's tried killing me and both my parents...as well as succeeding at poisoning our son."

"That may be true Emma, but all this time-" Snow stopped herself. "It's complicated."

Emma finally finished putting her blue leather jacket on. "We're in Storybrooke. Everything's complicated."

She left and her mother just stood, staring at the door as her hand slowly reached up to hold her chest and she took a deep breath in.


	40. Shattered Eternity

"Hey." Emma said wearily as she set her coat down on the couch along with her keys, entering the apartment.

"Hey." Mary Margaret replied, a cup of hot cocoa in her hands as she stood in the kitchen. "What are you doing back?"

"I thought we could go get some lunch, if you're not too mad at me."

"Emma, I'm not mad at you."

"You're not?"

"No. I'm just-things have been weird lately."

"Lately?"

"Okay, okay." Snow chuckled. "Things have always been weird. They just-have gotten weirder."

"Yeah." Emma agreed.

Suddenly, Snow White's cell phone rang and she picked it up to look at who was calling. After seeing who it was, she ignored the call.

"Who was that?" Emma wondered, joining her mother in the kitchen. "Was that him?" She assumed when Mary didn't answer. There was a moment of silence. "Why'd you ignore his call? I thought things were getting pretty serious."

"Well...Like I said before, it's complicated."

"Why won't you tell me who he is?"

"I will."

"When?" Emma asked almost immediately.

"When the time's right."

"Why is that time not right now?"

"Because..." She said the next three words into her mug before taking a petite sip of cocoa. "...he's not ready."

"Not read-" The blonde paused, thinking she was picking up the pieces. "Ooohhhh...Is he still getting over an ex?" There was no answer. "Of course." Emma smiled and leaned on her forearms on the counter in between the two of them. "You're both each other's rebound." Sarcastically, she said, "How great!?"

"It's not like that."

Emma slowly nodded.

"Can we please just-change the subject?"

"Fine." Emma stood up straight. "Lunch?"

"Sure." Snow answered, and they left, trying to forget about the conversation.

"Regina?" David slowly opened the front door to the Mills' mansion after he received no answer at his tenth knock. "Regina?" He called through the house one more time, hoping to find her with a reason as to why she had been ignoring his calls.

He had left Olivia and Henry with Snow and Emma when they arrived at Granny's so he could see if the Queen was alright.

He decided the first place he should look was her bedroom. Quickly jogging up the stairs, he heard something come from inside the nursery causing him to change directions from the master bedroom to the door nearest to it.

His heart skipped a beat when he found Regina sleeping in the rocking chair by Olivia's crib, clutching a small teddy bear in her left hand. It was obvious that the bear was old, as David could see the faded colors and few small holes that it held. How sad Regina looked in her sleep broke his heart, and he couldn't imagine that she was comfortable in that chair.

He stepped closer and kneeled beside it, gently caressing her face with the back of his hand before letting the same hand slowly find its way to her free hand that rested on the arm of the chair. Her eyes opened slightly and she blinked the sleepiness away before taking a deep breath in and letting shattered tears escape her broken, glassy eyes when she realized it was him.

"Hey." David whispered with comfort, wiping away her tears with the opposite hand that wasn't holding hers. "Please don't cry."

She sniffed. "Why not?" Her eyes closed as if to fall back to sleep.

"Because it hurts me too much." Both brown eyes shot open once again and the tears continued to slowly rain.

Her voice was still hoarse from sleep. "You're the one who told me to cry last night."

"That was the hardest thing for me to watch. I'm deeply, madly in love with you...and seeing you cry rips my heart to shreds. But you needed to feel her last night." He looked down. "I'm so sorry." His eyes teared up as he pictured her agony from the night before, feeling daggers go through his chest.

She couldn't find the words to explain what she felt. No one had ever...EVER told her that they were deeply in love with her before. No one. Not David, nor Daniel, nor Victor...not even Sydney.

"I love you so much that it makes it hard to breathe."

That caused her to let out a short, loud breath of air that she hadn't known was built up in her lungs, her heart releasing it without their permission upon hearing those words.

"Love is so many things." David continued. "But for me, the definition of love is your name. I can't even explain it. But the second I hear it, it's like my world crashes because I'm not with you. I never meant to hurt you or make you upset when Whale and I fought over you. It's just that...the thought of someone else being with you makes me crazy. I would need to know every second of everyday if they were taking care of you. With everything you've gone through, you deserve the best from anyone and everyone and you deserve true happiness. Watching you lose your daughter killed me, because all I can think of is 'what if we lost Olivia?' She is our love in one person. And we can't let that love die. Even if you found it with another person," He tried not to picture his daughter and her mother with Victor. "...at least our love would live in her."

His tears finally fell and she slowly slid out of the chair and onto her knees in front of him, holding both of his hands in her own.

"My heart can't stand it much longer, Regina." He sobbed as if in terrible, terrible pain.

"What?" She moved in so close that their knees touched and he was able to rest his forehead to hers.

"Marry me."

Another shocked breath of air left her lips and her hands let go of his to move up to his shoulders as she leaned her head away from his to look him in the eye. "What?"

"Marry me, Regina. Or else put me out of my misery. If the answer is yes, then tell me. If it is no, don't let me live another day." He shook his head and looked down. "Not another day without you." He paused before looking back up into her eyes. "If the answer is no, take my heart from my chest as you already have." There was a moment of silence as Regina struggled to catch her own breath. "Please. Please." He pleaded.

It was as if he were begging her to kill him. The way he touched her, she could feel him shaking and her hands found their way up to his neck and she massaged it as she cried, putting her forehead to his once more. "David."

He sobbed, afraid of the answer. "What?"

"I can't-" She shook her head and his heart lowered itself into his stomach. "I can't live without you." She lifted his face and they looked into each other's eyes. "Yes." She tried to smile, but the way they sobbed in unison forced her lips not to curl.

"What?"

"I will marry you."

Regina lifted David's heart back into his chest with four simple words and, again, their foreheads made contact as they continued to sob. He reached his hands up into her hair as her hands wrapped around his neck and they just kneeled there, for what seemed like an eternity.

"I need you." This caused David to look back into her eyes. Regina, drowning in his blue orbs. "You are my everything." She whispered, both of their hearts fluttering.

They could feel themselves spinning, spinning in a hall of mirrors. All they can see when they look at their reflection is the other person. She's got his heart, his life...and he has hers.

The silence in the room made them feel each other's hearts beat as one. Their breathing, in sync. Their lives intertwined. Their bodies, controlled by the other. Their eyes, stuck on each other's. And their souls, staying...Staying forever. Their shattered worlds, pieced together by one simple question and one simple answer.


	41. No Happy Endings

A/N: Hey Guys! Happy New Year! I hope you have an awesome 2015! I'm so excited, graduation is only in 6 months! Woo Hoo! Haha! Don't worry! This story is not over yet! ;) Enjoy! Mwah!

*Enchanted Forest-Past*

"Darling..."

"Get out." Regina told her father softly as he stared at her in the doorway to the empty castle nursery. "Get out." She said a little louder, her back still facing him. She looked over her shoulder and saw that he hesitated to move. "I SAID GET OUT!" She screamed, turning quickly. Without thinking, she pointed at him, sending a stream of magic toward him. It hit the wall, showing that her aim was off due to anger and sorrow.

After he ducked, Henry looked back at his daughter, heartbroken to see her like this. He saw the look of apology on her face as she glanced at him, in shock of what she'd just done. He turned and left, leaving her in the room alone, missing the presence of an infant daughter she never even knew.

Regina stared at the doorway long after her father left before suddenly turning to look around. She looked at the crib her daughter would've slept in, at the mobile above it that she would've fallen asleep looking up at, the queen looked at the wardrobe that would've held her dresses for her first balls in the kingdom. Anger metastisizing inside of her, she screamed and began destroying the room with magic.

Suddenly, she had no strength left in her and she stopped, falling to her knees in agony. After crying for a few minutes, she felt her hand touch something soft beside her. She lifted the old teddy bear that she had slept with as a baby, the bear that she had intended to give to her babies, the babies that she had lost in numerous miscarriages. This was the bear she would've passed down to her recently deceased daughter.

The glass underneath her knees suddenly didn't feel as painful as this. It was gone and she slowly struggled to stand. She leaned against the doorframe and let a few more tears fall as she looked at the ruins in the room. She then put her head down to see the bear in her hand, about to throw it into the destroyed nursery. But nothing could make her do it. She held onto it and took one last look at the room before hesitantly leaving and bringing the old bear with her.

Walking back to her own bed chamber, she saw two guards in the halls and told them to get rid of everything in the nursery as she hid the bear behind her cape, refusing to show any signs of weakness to them. They took their order and she returned to her room, thinking of a place for her childhood bear.

That night, the bear was locked away in her vault, prepared to go with her to the world where there are no happy endings.

*Storybrooke-Present*

Regina slowly opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling, pained by the memory that insisted on haunting her dreams. She heard something and looked to her right, seeing David beside her. She had forgotten about the proposal as well as letting him sleep over.

A tear escaped her eye as she thought of everything that happened after she said 'yes.' They had gone to Granny's, both ecstatic and so in love, to tell everyone else of the great news. For some reason, something was missing. She had no idea what it was. She had waited a long time for this to happen. She'd waited so long to see that look on Henry's face. But what was missing? The second they told everyone, that smile on her face suddenly became fake. Was she expecting something more?

"Take your happy ending," she heard Gold say in her head.

She looked at David once more and noticed the nightmare he must've been having. He suddenly became anxious and restless. Hating to see his fear, Regina attempted to wake him.

"David. Wake up, Baby!" She nudged his sweating chest.

He screamed and shot up, startling Regina who immediately sat up behind him. He breathed heavily and she squeezed his shoulders to remind him that he was safe. Kissing his left shoulder blade, she tightened her grip on his shirt so much that she was sure it would rip.

Finally, reality set in on David and he slightly turned his head to see Regina in the corner of his eye. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

"You didn't." She replied, resting her chin on his shoulder. "What happened?"

He thought of the dream and decided not to tell her that he had just relived the moment when he saw his own sword piercing through Jasmine's abdomen. "Nothing. Just go back to sleep." He said softly as he slowly put his legs over the side of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Regina asked, ignoring his request.

"Bathroom." He answered.

She watched the door to her bedroom bathroom close and she quickly put her head back down on the pillow in frustration. 'What is happening?' She wondered and she sighed before closing her eyes, annoyed at her confusion towards all the feelings that she held all at once.

Suddenly, she began to think of Victor. Ashamed, she put both hands over her face and slowly moved them up and she pulled her own hair. 'Was it too early?' She and Victor had spent a lot of their time mentally abusing one another or snapping smart remarks ever since David's memories came back, yet she couldn't get him out of her mind.

Inside the bathroom, David wet his face and grabbed a towel nearby to dry it. He looked up into the mirror and something felt wrong. He didn't feel whole, not the way he did when he proposed and she accepted. It had only been a few hours, but he felt as though her heart wasn't in it any longer. Only a few hours reunited, and he felt them drifting apart again.

Regina's thoughts were interrupted as David opened the door and returned to the bed. He crawled underneath the covers beside her and kissed her on the forehead. The kiss lingered and she felt a lump in her throat as she fought back tears. How could she be so, so in love with this man, yet thinking of another?

Finally, he stopped the kiss and took one last look at her before he turned over to his other side to try and fall back to sleep.

"Couldn't sleep?" Mary Margaret asked Emma as she descended the stairs in her pajamas to join her mother on the couch in hers.

"No. You?"

Snow slightly smiled. "Not really."

"Still thinking about-"

"Yup." The brunette answered, anticipating the rest of her daughter's question.

"Same."

It was silent for a moment.

"How are you?" Emma sadly broke the silence with a brave question, that she was sure she knew the answer to.

"Honestly? A part of me feels relief."

"Really?" She was wrong.

"Yeah. I don't know what it is."

Emma looked at her mother for a few seconds. "Yes you do."

"What?"

"You do. I can see it in your eyes. What is it?"

"Emma, I-"

"Just tell me. Why are you happy abou-" All of a sudden, Emma's eyes got wider as her mouth opened just a little and she slightly gasped. "Really?"

"Really what?" Mary asked, watching her daughter stand up from the couch.

"You're-" Emma couldn't finish her own sentence.

"-confused." Snow said to herself, referring to Emma's current behavior.

Emma sat down again. "That's why you wouldn't tell me."

Finally, Mary Margaret understood what she was talking about and she put her head down, grinning just a smidge, but feeling ashamed.

"How long has this been going on? With feelings, I mean."

"Well, there have always been SOME feelings, I guess. They just weren't very strong ones."

"Seriously?"

"Well, that's what HE told me." Snow White answered awkwardly.

"Well, how long have you had these 'strong ones'?"

Snow hesitated to answer. "Not very."

Emma said nothing...just stared.

"But you see why I couldn't tell? I didn't want anyone to know how horrible I am."

"What do you mean? How does this make you horrible?"

Snow just gave her a look and Emma knew right away.

"Mary Margaret, that doesn't make you horrible. It just shows that you have the same taste in men."

"She's gonna kill me." Mary Margaret answered, very sure of herself.

"She's not gonna-"

"Emma," She interrupted. "...this is the third [sort of fourth] time I've interfered with her love life."

"She's marrying David now...whom, by the way, YOU were married to first. "

"Yes, but SHE loved him first. She KNEW him first."

"Well, if you think about it, you were with Victor first. They didn't start dating until she got pregnant with Olivia. You and him had a few one night stands long before that." Emma tried making her feel better.

Snow thought about it for a minute and realized it was true. It was slient again for a while before Emma thought of something else.

"So THAT'S why you were relieved to hear about the engagement." The Savior assumed.

Mary Margaret shook her head yes. Victor would finally, at least TRY, to get over Regina once and for all and they could be together.

"You still awake?" Regina asked, as she stared at the lamp beside the bed with her back to Charming.

He was going to pretend like he was, but he changed his mind, his back also to her. "Yup, you?"

"Yup." She rolled over onto her back, looking up at the ceiling.

Feeling her movements, he did the same thing. They held hands and both turned their heads to look at each other, keeping their bodies in the same position. Neither one wanted to talk first.

"You know that I love you, right?" Regina wondered.

"Of course. And I love you more."

She gently smiled and chuckled. "I doubt it."

He chuckled back before they both turned their heads to look at the ceiling again.

"I'm not sure if this is the right thing." Regina finally said.

"Why should it be right or wrong?" David asked.

"David." She looked at him again and he looked back to her. "I haven't finished grieving yet and I think it's unwise to jump into something like this so quickly."

"But it's been more than 3 months."

"I understand that, but it's just..." She didn't finish.

"What?"

"It's unfair to you. I wouldn't want to hurt you if things didn't work out."

He looked away from her and slowly let go of her hand, but she immediately brought his hand back to hers.

"Why wouldn't things work out?" He asked, almost frustratedly.

"I'm not saying that they wouldn't, but I just don't want to forget about YOU."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm selfish. Especially when I grieve, and I won't focus on you if-"

"You don't have to." He finally looked back at her. "I'll focus on the both of us."

"I'm sorry...But I won't let you do that." This time, she was the one who let go of his hand and looked away.

He looked up at the ceiling again and she did the same. "It's Victor, isn't it?"

"What?" She immediately looked back to him.

"You still love Victor." He looked at her.

"I love YOU." She clarified. "But I can't stop thinking about him." She confessed, feeling very ashamed. "I can't marry you like this."

He understood, but didn't know what to say, so he turned over to his side once more, his back facing her.

She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, letting a tear fall to his skin before she turned away from him as well.

A few moments passed as they each began to drift away and back to the land of dreams.


	42. Three Magic Words

David woke the next morning and looked at the empty left side of the bed. He looked up at the ceiling and a tear slowly rolled out of the side of his eye. He sniffled before sitting up and putting his legs over the side of the bed. He thought to himself, 'Why did I have to fall in love with her again? The most complicated person I know.' He sighed and stood up.

He looked at the time and thought he'd go to Granny's to bring back breakfast for Henry. He put on his shoes and went into the nursery to smile at his sleeping baby in the crib. He didn't want to wake her, but he didn't want to leave her alone at the house when her brother was sleeping.

Gently picking her up, David gathered her diaper bag, her carseat, and Regina's old teddy bear before descending the stairs. He put the carseat in his truck and quietly buckled in Olivia, surprised that she barely blinked an eye.

When he arrived at Granny's, the baby woke as he came to a stop and he took her out of her carseat and walked inside, holding her tightly in his arms.

As he entered, his heart stopped when he saw that Regina was there. She sat in her regular booth at the counter and drank coffee. He had no idea what to do, so he decided he'd join her.

She never looked at him, which was why he was surprised when she said his name just before he sat down. He could tell by her tone of voice that she had put her guard up once again, trying not to show her weakness.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, still refusing to look at him.

"I came to get some breakfast for Henry."

Regina seemed unstable. She had actually believed he had come to look for her.

"Are we gonna talk about this?" David asked as he turned to face the front of the counter.

"We already have."

David rubbed Olivia's back as she began to fall back to sleep on his shoulder.

"I love you, David. I do. Very much, but I just need some time."

"I've waited ever since I was nineteen. I guess I can wait a little longer." He smiled and she finally looked at him, stunned. She smiled back and they leaned in for a soft kiss, which didn't last long when they heard the bell over the door chime as Aladdin walked in with a girl they'd never seen before.

Regina and David walked over to say hello and ask who the girl was.

"This is my girlfriend." He smiled. "Wendy."

Shocked that he had a new girlfriend, Regina just stared for a moment. "How did you two meet?" She finally asked.

"We met in Neverland. She just got here on the pirate ship a few weeks ago." Aladdin gave Wendy the same look he'd given Jasmine a few times and Regina couldn't help but smile at them.

"Jasmine was a very good friend of mine." Wendy said. "I'm very sorry." She said.

"Thank you." Regina said, unaware of how to reply. She held Aladdin's hand for a moment as they both weakly smiled at each other. Al and Wendy walked passed her and smiled at David as they took a seat at a booth and Regina began to feel dizzy. She turned around and David noticed something was wrong.

Before he knew it, she was falling and he tried his best to catch her, but with Olivia, he couldn't. And soon, she was on the floor, unconscious.

"Mama?...Mama!" A distorted voice came from a distance.

Regina felt someone gently tapping her face, urging her to wake up. She felt the soft grass beneath her and her eyes slowly opened, but everything was a blur.

"Mama!" She heard once more, this time the voice sounding closer.

"Jasmine?" She cried out in her dream. Or at least, she thought it was a dream.

Regina was finally able to see and she was taken aback by what she saw when her vision suddenly came into focus. Her daughter kneeled beside her and helped her sit up.

"What is this place?" Regina asked as she held Jasmine's hand tightly. Her other hand reached up and touched her head.

"It's a garden." Jasmine smiled.

"What am I doing here?"

"We need to talk." The girl helped her mother stand.

"Jasmine, how are you-Where are we?" Regina looked at her surroundings.

Jasmine didn't answer, although she knew exactly where they were.

"This isn't real. It's a dream, isn't it?" Her mother assumed, looking at the teen dressed in a long, white, flowing gown.

"It may be happening in a dream, but it is very real." The girl answered, taking her mother by the hand and leading her through the soft grass.

"I-I don't understand." Regina replied.

Jasmine smiled at the ground and they continued to walk as Regina couldn't help but stare at her. She admired the white flower that accessorized the girl's dark hair that was so long it fell passed her lower back. They just walked in silence until Jasmine stopped at a nearby stream and sat on a boulder beside it. She insisted that her mother sit as well and she did.

Regina looked at her reflection in the pure water as she sat on a different boulder across from Jasmine. She saw that she too was wearing all white and this was the first time she noticed that they both were barefoot. Their white gowns shown through the many greens and colors that surrounded them.

"This place is so beautiful." Regina thought out loud.

"It is." Jasmine agreed.

"But where-"

"It doesn't matter." The teen smiled. "All that matters is that you're here...finally."

"Finally?" She was confused. "Is this Heaven?" There was no answer, which caused her to ask the next question. "Am I dead?"

Jazzy chuckled. "Of course not."

"What do you mean I'm 'finally' here?"

"I've been waiting for you to come to me. This is a place where the dead can communicate with the living."

"That's not even-"

"Possible? Oh, but it is."

"How come you're coming to me NOW?" Regina asked as if she were impatient.

"We do not come to you. You come to us. And it's only when you're ready that you do."

"I've lost so many people before. Why are you the only one that I've been here for?"

"I may not be...See, in time, after you wake up, you forget about this place, or believe that it really was a dream. And it's only the people who can help you that you will see."

"How are you supposed to help me?" Regina seemed a little annoyed by this 'dream world.'

"I am to talk to you about my wish."

"Your wish?"

"Yes. The one that brought you back to Storybrooke."

"What about it?"

"I wished for all of you to have a happy ending."

"And?"

"And that can't happen if none of you take them."

"What does that mean? That we're not going to get our happy endings if we don't beat each other for them?" Regina said ridiculously.

"I'm not saying that everyone in the town must try to kill one another, I'm saying that you must take chances...and once you do...everything will fall into place."

Regina looked back at her reflection in the stream and Jasmine could tell that she was starting to ignore her.

"Take Victor for example."

Her mother snapped her head back to look up at her. "Victor?" Regina said appallingly, unaware of how an example of him would help her change her mind.

"Yes. He's about to take his happy ending. But if you call off the wedding, he won't...And it'll hurt many others in the process...Like a chain reaction."

"How does my wedding to David help Victor with his happy ending?"

"It'll help Snow's as well."

"What? How?"

"Think about it."

Regina looked away for a moment and when she realized, she looked back up to her daughter. "How would Charming's wedding to me HELP them?"

"They both can't get over the two of you. Once you get married, they'll see that you've both moved on and that they can too. If you call off the wedding, Victor will believe that you still love him and he still has a chance with you and Snow will believe that David will be so heartbroken that he'll want her back."

Tears began to build up in Regina's eyes and she let a few slow ones fall down her cheeks. "I'm dying." She shook her head.

"No, you're not." Jasmine said with a smile, moving to sit beside her mother on the same boulder. She held her and Regina cried a little more. "I know it may feel like it, but you don't need me. You've got Henry. You've got Olivia and you have David, who loves you so much."

"I can't live with myself."

"Why?" Jasmine asked ridiculously.

"Because. I let you down. I could've saved you."

"No."

"Yes." Regina argued. "I could have and I didn't. You died before you even got to live."

"Listen to yourself." Jasmine let go of her mother and looked at her. "What kind of Evil Queen is this?" She tried to joke.

Regina gave her an astounded look.

"Mama, I wasn't destined to live a long life...I was destined to save people...and I did." Jasmine tried to comfort her.

"Yes, but what about Aladdin?"

"What about him?" Jasmine's smile grew two times more.

"He was your first love. And you were his...now he's without you."

"We may have been each other's first loves, but that doesn't mean that we were each other's ONLY loves. Just like you and Daniel...or you and David...or David and Snow...I told Aladdin that when HE was here."

"What?" Regina wondered. "He was here?"

"Yes. He needed me as much as you...and now he's found another soul mate."

"Really?"

"Yes. You saw him with Wendy." Jasmine smiled. "And they're very happy together...but it took them awhile to get there because he wouldn't forgive himself for losing me. Just like you are now."

Regina looked straight ahead of her and into the trees.

"Marry David."

"Jas, I-" Regina looked down at the fiddling hands in her lap.

"Mama. You don't wanna let me down? Then marry your true love. This is your big chance. Take it. Once you do, everyone else's happy endings will-" She paused to think of a good way to say this. "-will seem like a piece of cake."

Regina quickly looked at her as if she was saying 'Don't make me laugh.' She thought for a moment as she listened to the flowing water in the stream by her feet. "Okay. I will."

"You'll what?"

"I'll marry David for you."

"No. You're gonna marry him for you."

She looked at her daughter and another tear escaped her eye before she smiled and nodded. "Will I remember this?"

"For awhile, yes. But soon, you'll forget and I will only be a memory." Her daughter's hopeful smile caused her to reach up and touch her own heart.

"Can I tell anyone?"

"You can." Jasmine held her mother's hand. "They may not believe you." She almost laughed.

"Aladdin will, won't he?"

"He might, unless he's forgotten already." She thought for a moment. "I know someone who will believe you. David. He'll always believe you." She smiled and Regina cried once more.

"I'm gonna miss you, Jazzy."

Jasmine hugged her mother again. It pained her to see Regina's sadness.

"I lo-"

"Sshhh..." Jasmine stopped her from saying the magic words. "I just need to hold you for a few seconds more."

They just sat, holding onto each other. Finally, it was time for her to go.

"I love you, Mama." A tear left Jasmine's eye and she ignored the fact that she shouldn't have been able to cry. "It's time for you to go now."

"I love you, Jasmine." Suddenly, Regina felt like she was drifting away and she began to hear David's voice trying to wake her up.

The teen closed her eyes tightly as she watched her leave and she knew that this was the last time they'd say those words to each other.

She opened her eyes and her mother was gone. She was relieved, knowing that she'd finally been able to save her. "And they lived happily ever after." Jasmine smiled and she drifted away from this garden as well and she returned to the place from whence she came.

A/N: Sorry if this chapter was too corny or something. Lol. But I hope you stick around for some more. Love you all. Mwah!


	43. One Condition

A/N: Hey readers. I'm so sorry it has been so long! After the last chapter I got a huge case of writer's block and then I started writing other stories. I never ever forgot about this one, but it was just too difficult for me to deal with the end of my senior year while writing like six stories all at once. I hope you're all still there. Lol Anyway, here's chapter 43 and I hope you enjoy it! It is almost the last one!

"Regina?" David's concerned voice shouted at the woman he kneeled beside on the floor in Granny's Diner.

"Ugh!" She groaned as she slowly sat up, feeling David grab her elbow to help her up. Her hand reached up to grab her head just as it did when Jasmine helped her up in the dream.

"Don't get up too fast." He said gently.

"Gave us quite the scare there, sister." Widow Lucas added, standing over them and holding Olivia. David had handed her to the old woman as soon as Regina went down.

"How long was I out?" The mayor asked, her voice a bit hoarse and shaky.

"Just a minute or so." The owner of the diner answered, bouncing Olivia in her arms.

"Are you okay?" David asked, slowly helping her stand.

"Ugh! I think so." She held onto his arm once she stood just to keep her balance a second longer before finally feeling capable of letting go.

"I haven't seen anyone go down like that since the day I slugged that bloody crocodile." A dark voice came from a booth nearby and Regina walked passed David to see better.

"Hook?" She still had her hand on her head as she approached his table.

"Aye." She glared at him. "Wasn't too long ago you were sticking your tongue down my throat. Seems you might've lost your memory. Quite the nasty fall there." He looked passed her to David. "Davey, is it? Perhaps you should take her to a doctor, ay mate?"

"No. I don't need a doctor, Guyliner. My memories are just fine. It's an explanation that I need."

"Sure. Ask me any question." He raised one eyebrow flirtatiously just before taking a swig of hot chocolate, which he had, of course, spiked with a dab of rum.

Ignoring his expression, Regina just came out and asked him for the truth. "What are you doing here, Killian? And I don't mean in this diner. I mean, in this town. Why are you here with your little band of filthy henchmen?"

"Well, clearly we came to enjoy a change of venue." He smirked, gesturing towards the obviously new type of 'tavern.'

"Enough bull shit, Pirate! What are you doing here?"

His smile faded and he seemed a bit ashamed to have to admit this, but he did anyways, remembering the Evil Queen's temper. "We came to escape Pan."

"Really? The young boy who floated over the clouds with a bunch of children to find a land where you don't grow old?"

"It's not what you think. Alright? Pan IS dangerous and Neverland does exist."

"Oh, really?"

"It's true." Aladdin came forward. "And he's right. Peter Pan cannot be trusted. I was a Lost Boy and it was hard for me to escape his life of rebelliousness."

"Same with me." Emma turned to look at Neal. It wasn't until now that Regina had noticed their presence. They had entered the diner just as she had collapsed, along with Victor and Snow White. "Trust us. It's better for all of us to be here then on an island with that psychopath." Neal decided to add.

"I hope our being here's not a problem for you." Killian looked to Regina, waiting for a snap or an exile.

She paused, remembering that she was changing and trying to get better for Henry and Olivia's sake. "No...not at all. But there is one thing. How can you be sure that Pan won't follow you here?"

"He can't." Wendy responded. "He's too weak. And with no other forms of transportation or no more pixie dust, there's nothing he can do."

"No more pixie dust?" Snow wondered. "What happened to it?"

"Pixies hardly exist anymore. And most of the fairies got caught up in the Dark Curse, transported here. So, in Neverland...there was no one to help Pan." Neal answered.

"We're safe." Mr. Smee added, looking up to Regina, frightfully.

"So...you're here to stay?" Snow asked. "For good?"

There was a moment of silence as everyone looked around at each other. "It's up to the queen here." Killian said, pointing to Regina before taking another sip of his cocoa.

She hesitated before turning around and looking at Olivia in Granny's arms, then to David, then back to Killian. "Alright, Leather. On one condition…"

"Anything for you, milady." He crossed his legs under the table on the bench across from him, putting up that seductive brow again.

"No piracy. Alright? You're all going to get jobs and work for the things you EARN." Her eyes widened as if she knew a protest were coming.

"But, Your Majesty…" Smee began. "...most of us don't know how to do anything. Sailing is all we know."

"Then you can work at the docks as fisherman and boat repairmen. Alright? I will have NO thievery in my town, you understand?" She waited for the answer as if she were queen again, waiting for the peasants to bow to her.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Most of the pirates said in unison.

"Oh, and…" She paused. "...call me Regina." She couldn't help but turn and smile at David. "I'm no longer the queen here." He walked over to her and gave her the lightest, but most loving kiss and she squeezed his hand.

The squeeze, he knew, was her saying that she wasn't going anywhere and they would be alright. He squeezed back as if telling her that he knew they'd be okay and they smiled at each other, before their loving looks were interrupted. "Okay, Lovebirds!" Granny practically pushed them apart to get between them. "Time for me to get back to work. Can't do it with a baby in my arms." David giggled, taking Olivia from her and playfully shaking his head at Regina as she chuckled at the older woman.

"Shall we get home to Henry?" Regina asked him as she kissed Olivia's hand.

"I think that sounds like a great idea."


	44. Postponed

"Henry?" Regina called out when they entered the mayoral manor, David holding Olivia and Regina with a takeout bag of Henry's breakfast.

When there was no answer she looked at David and he smiled at her as if he knew what she was thinking. She smiled back and he put Olivia in her bassinet, setting her carseat down next to the sofa. He followed Regina into the kitchen to put the food on a tray. David took a baby bottle already filled from the refrigerator and he put a pan of water on the stove to heat up the bottle.

"It's ready." Regina said as she picked up the tray with the well displayed meal on it and David went with her up the stairs to give Henry his breakfast in bed. "Good morning." The mayor whispered as she entered her son's bedroom. He was already awake when they went in, but too lazy to get up yet.

"Hey, kid." David smiled as he and Regina sat on the side of his bed, giving him the tray. "It's not a home cooked meal, but it is one of your favorites."

Henry sat up some more, grabbing the fork to dig into Granny's chocolate chip waffles with cool whip and strawberries on top. "Thanks guys!" Henry said excitedly.

"Guys?" Regina raised an eyebrow. "Don't talk with your mouth full."

"I mean Mom and...Grandpa?" He had no idea what to call David. "I can't wait for your wedding." He took a bite, not noticing the looks the two adults gave each other.

"Uh, Henry…" David began, still looking at Regina.

"I'm gonna go down and check on Olivia." Regina said, standing up.

David nodded to her and she left. "What?" Henry asked, his mouth still full.

"There's something you should know."

"Mhm?" He asked, chewing.

"Your mother and I...we're not getting married."

Henry looked up and stopped chewing. "What?" He didn't understand.

"She called off the wedding last night, son."

"But...why would she do that? She loves you." He thought for a second. "Did you do something?"

"No."

"Did she?"

"No, Henry. She just...she wasn't ready. After losing your sister, she just doesn't feel right about getting married just yet."

"So...she didn't call it off. She just postponed it." Henry tried to smile again.

"Sort of. We'll see." David smiled sadly.

Henry saw the look in his eyes and he put his fork down. "Don't worry, Grandpa." He reached over and touched him on the arm. "She loves you. I know she does. If she wants to marry you, she will."

"Yeah, but she doesn't want to." David looked at the wall.

Just then, they heard something coming from downstairs. "What's that?" Henry wondered.

"I don't know." David stood up and Henry moved the tray of food so he could stand as well.

They both started down the stairs, David first, and looked down to see Regina standing at the bottom of the staircase.

"Mom? What's going on?" He saw the nervous look in her eyes and he listened to the sound he and David had heard. It was a soft, soothing song. Suddenly, Henry heard the words to the song and his eyes widened. He gasped once he realized what she was doing.

David was confused and the second he reached the bottom step, Regina hesitantly got down on one knee. Charming didn't know what to do, so he just stood at the bottom step, staring down at her.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, but a smile that could easily dry them if they fell. "David, I look back at the day we met and I remember how I felt the moment we spoke to each other. Even after all the things we've gone through and all the hell we put each other through, I always dreamt of marrying you. Even in my darkest times back home, while trying to hurt you or Snow, every night I went to sleep, I had a dream of us being together, or having a baby like Olivia, or even nightmares of you being taken from this life. All the things I've done throughout the years has been to somehow forget about my feelings for you and Daniel and even Jasmine. But after all this time, you've been the only one to be with me the longest."

"Regina, what are you doing?" He felt his heart pounding.

"I didn't plan this. But I was just standing in the kitchen getting Olivia's bottle ready and I realized, I've been going about things all wrong. I realized hurting you or Snow or even myself won't change the fact that you're the one I belong with. Everything happens for a reason, right? Well, we met when I was in a low place in my life, even when we couldn't be together, you were still somehow a part of my life after meeting Snow...That way you'd always be there in some way. I wasn't supposed to be able to get pregnant after difficulties giving birth to Jasmine, but when I did, it was with YOUR child. And you proposed to me and of course, the first thing I said was yes...because I wanted nothing more than to be yours forever. But I called it off after feeling a sort of emptiness. But it wasn't you. It was me. I realized that the emptiness came from my own guilt. You've given me many beautiful things, but I haven't been able to give you anything in return. And I hated myself for that. So I didn't feel like I deserved you."

"Regina." David reached down and grabbed her hands, pulling her up to stand. He put his arms around her waist when she stood and he stepped down from the bottom step and onto the floor. "You've given me more than you know. You gave me Olivia. You've given me a life full of adventure." She giggled and he smiled, thinking about their adult lives in the Enchanted Forest. "And most of all you've given me you. And you've also taken from me as well."

She nodded guiltily, remembering all of the terrible things from that part of their lives. "I know and I'm sorry." She looked down at her hands resting on his chest in between them.

"No. It's nothing to apologize for." She looked back up to him. "I want you to have it." His smile grew even more, if that was even possible.

Regina blushed due to the look he gave her. "What is it?"

Suddenly, Olivia started to whine and Henry ran passed them as they both turned their heads toward the living room. "Don't worry. I've got her." He smiled at them lovingly and continued to her bassinet, picking her up and returning to the entrance hall.

Regina looked back at David and he did the same. "Well, what is it?" She asked again.

He looked down at her hands and put one on his heart, holding it there. "This."

She stared at it for a moment, grinning like a fool before closing her eyes and looking back up into his sea blue orbs. "Well, then I guess we're even." She giggled and he kissed her.

"Awww." Henry said, bouncing Olivia in his arms. Both of them turned to awkwardly smile at him and he cleared his throat. "No, uh, don't let me stop you."

"What do you mean?" Regina asked.

"Um, don't you have something to ask him?" Henry egged on.

"Oh, right." She said as David laughed, blushing himself. She pulled out of his arms and got back down on her knee. "David, will-" She stopped. "Oh, wait." She put her hand out in front of her and magicked a ring into it. David's eyes widened.

"Where did you get that?" He wondered.

She shrugged. "I found it in your coat pocket." She said as if it were no big deal.

"And what were you doing in my coat pocket?" He asked, embarrassed as he just bought the ring this morning, planning to ask her again in the future.

"Well, I just had a feeling." She giggled and noticed the strange look on his face. "I can still read your mind, okay?" He chuckled and rolled his eyes at how nosy she could be.

"You used your mirror, didn't you?"

"Hmm...maybe. Are you gonna let me do this or not?"

"Alright, alright. Go ahead." He laughed.

"David, will you be my husband?"

He looked up as if he were thinking about it. "Ummmmm….I don't know, sure!" He laughed again and she slapped him as she stood up and they kissed once more.

He took the ring from her hand and put in on her finger before kissing her again and hugging her.

"Well, it's about time." Henry said and they both sent him a playful glare. "Well, it is." The teen boy said defensively and all three of them laughed.

"He's right, you know." David said softly and Regina turned to look at him.

"I know." She practically whispered and they kissed again, beginning to dance to the music she had put in the vinyl record player and Henry did the same with Olivia in his arms.

The End.


End file.
